


The Goblin's Bride

by istillcantforgetyou



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, based loosely on the korean drama "Goblin"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 00:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13493358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/istillcantforgetyou/pseuds/istillcantforgetyou
Summary: You are a wild card.You change fate because you were once supposed to be dead.XWhere Levi is a Goblin unable to die unless he finds his bride, and Eren is a young man with the ability to see ghosts.Can Levi give up on his only opportunity to escape fate? Or will his budding affection towards the boy with beautiful green eyes ruin it all?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This fic was made for the Ereri Big Bang for 2017.  
> It took me a long time to get things together, and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could finish a book haha. I did, and the schedule was tight, but I managed to do it and have a lot of fun as well. There were a lot of things that I would have liked to add to it, but, by the end of it, I changed a lot of those ideas and placed something else there instead.  
> I was also paired with two very lovely artists during this event!  
> You can find them in tumblr @s1e1pilot.tumblr.com and @zoey-angel.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you and best wishes! <3

            There was a lone figure laying in the snow covering that parking lot.

            Almost immobile, that lone figure lay extended over the ground, hair over her head like a halted halo, a blanket of red, a pool of tainted snow. Her breaths were ragged whispers. Her fingers clutched desperately at her stomach.

            _My baby, please._

_Please save my baby._

_God….Please…_

            Miles away, a figure glancing into the dark of a lighted city listened disinterestedly to her pained cries.

            “Don’t get involved,” he said. “Never… Not with the death of humans.”

            He was no God. And humans were fools to trust Gods.

            He heard the woman let out a choked cry.

            _Please_ , the woman choked out. _God…._ anyone _….please help my baby_ ….

            Tch.

            With hesitant reluctance, the figure stood.

            That night, under a secretive moon and snow lightly hitting the pavement, the cherry blossoms suddenly flourished.

            And a confused reaper looking for two souls to claim found none.

X

**18 years later**

 

**Levi**

            Over the centuries, surprisingly, there was very little that he actually hated.

            No matter how many years passed and how many people he met in between, there wasn’t much about the world that Levi genuinely detested.

            Sure, like everyone else, he had his annoyances. Hundreds of years doing the same thing could do that to someone, after all.

            However, one of the things that annoyed Levi the most were his emotions.

            If it rained, that was Levi showing his emotions to the world, although unconsciously. That annoyed him sometimes. .If the heat down his back pored so hard he sweat down his clothes, and made him uncomfortable, that annoyed him sometimes, too. Unfriendly, rude people also irked him. But it was bearable.

            Unlike those annoyances, there were actually a few things in the world that were so beautiful that he couldn’t help admire them. Love was one of those things... Hard work and determination were also some of those things.

            Surprisingly, centuries after he died, he still found so many things beautiful.

            However, even though there was so little that Levi hated about the world—there was one thing that he truly did…

            Himself.

            Because, unlike the weather—or hostile and uncaring people—he didn’t have an ending. While their memories were momentary, his memories haunted him since the day he got murdered.

            For three centuries, he had seen people he loved leave him behind…

            Levi’s largest curse was living.

 

X

**Eren**

 

            It was raining again.

            Great. It was just like him to forget his umbrella.

            “Are you going to wait it out?”

            At the sound of Armin’s voice, Eren turned around to spot said figure walking towards him from within the rain and under the cover of the school rooftop.

            Students were already in bunches underneath their colorful umbrellas, running over the puddles—some towards their cars and others just walking through the rain. Eren would do that, too, but he only had his hoodie, and he doubted it would do much against the heavy pouring.

            Someone must be miserable for it to be this bad, Eren jokingly mused. The rain looked as if somebody were crying.

            “Yeah, don’t really want to go home,” Eren replied back, glancing back to the rain as Armin settled beside him.

            “Is it your dad again?” Armin’s asked. His voice was a bit hushed. “If I could do something for you, I would,” he said, “but…” He motioned down his body. “I’m kind of useless.”

            At that, Eren let out a small laugh.

            A student passing by with their blue umbrella looked at him with judging eyes as they walked past. Eren shrugged before placing his hands into the pockets of his black hoodie.

            It was only normal for others to stare at him like that. He was the weird one after all.

            The crazy boy that spoke to ghosts.

            And that’s exactly what Armin was.

            “You know,” Eren said, his voice light and somewhat joking. “You should probably start talking to me when I’m all alone. People already think I’m crazy, and you’re really not helping.”

            Leaning on one of the columns, Armin smirked at him underneath long lashes. “Sounds like that’s your problem. You’re the one that doesn’t ignore us.”

            Yep. That was true, too.

            But sometimes it was just hard to tell ghosts apart from normal humans. Although they were somewhat crystalline figures, they were dusty in the way that color still tinged their features. Armin’s clothes looked old, too light (everything about ghosts was always too light), when they might’ve been extremely new when he died.

            That’s what ghosts were. Overly clingy creatures, too. They liked to talk. A lot.

            But Eren guessed that it made sense. After all, they _were_ dead.

            That really didn’t help his case, though, especially if they knew that he could speak to them just fine. It could get a tad bit irritating. Having a ghost nag for about four straight days about fixing the rug outside their home could give you a bit of anxiety. But never mind that.

            Recently, these gossiping ghosts had started calling him something different, and Eren didn’t know what to make of it.

            Which reminded him…

            “Armin, are Connie and Sasha still talking to those ladies in the block?”

            Armin’s gaze was knowing.

            “Yeah, but they haven’t really told them anything yet. Sorry, Eren.”

            The rain was still pouring. As harsh and grinding as when it first started.

            Eren’s mouth quirked in disappointment, and he glanced back up into the sky. The rain didn’t look like it would let down anytime soon. Might as well just go home… That, or just hang around somewhere so that he could avoid his father for a few hours.

            Saying a few words of goodbye, Eren lifted his hood and headed straight into the pour, sparing a glance as Armin disappeared.

            Ghosts hated the rain.

            It made them feel too unsolid.

            As Eren approached the school gates, a numb ache started to steadily hit him on the left side of his neck. Right over his birthmark. Letting out a small irritated sound, Eren lightly pressed that spot with his thumb.

            These past few weeks but especially today, that same spot had been constantly irritated. It was strange that these aches always approached him near his birthday, but Eren had stopped questioning that after doctor after doctor had told him that he was completely normal.

            “It’s a mental thing,” they told him. “Stress, probably.”

            The rain was quickly making his clothes sopping wet, and Eren was sure that, in this moment, he probably looked like a very wet rat.

            As the ache on his neck intensified, Eren grimaced. It was the first time that it was getting to the point of painful, and it was starting to make him a little anxious.

            It was those thoughts that made him glance in front of him, through the heavy crowd of people…And into the sharp eyes of one man holding a black umbrella. He was heading in the opposite direction, so it was easy to see the dark locks of smooth hair underneath the rain. His features were very defined, almost like a sculpture that had gone through years of work. He wore pristine, shiny shoes and black gloves—an expensive dark coat over his shoulders.

            But it wasn’t those characteristics that caught Eren in a slight stupor as he passed him.

            It was the fact that, like an efficient balm, the ache on his neck was replaced by a dosage of extreme peace all over his body. As if a part of him had become complete.

            But only for a moment.

            Because, as he looked back one last time, the man was nowhere to be seen, and that small ache started again.

 

X

 

            Eren hated going home for a reason.

            And that reason was currently his extremely drunk father.

            On his birthday at the age of nine, Eren’s mother died in a car crash. She had been walking down the street to get some candles when a distracted driver barreled through.

            Eren was the first one that found out that she died.

            She came to him before he fell asleep.

            At first, he thought that she was fine. She looked the same, but only a few things felt wrong. Her clothes were lighter and she was paler. Her brown locks were just a little out of place, and she had tears in her eyes. In her hand, she held one lone candle.

            It was with a shaky voice that she directed him to where she had hid his cake. Eren remembered having felt ecstatic. Because they weren’t very well-off, he never had the chance to celebrate his birthday normally like other kids, so this was the first time such a pretty thing lay in front of his eyes.

            “Make a wish,” she said, a small smile softly gracing her lips. Eren grinned back, his smile wide and happy and a little gap-toothed.

            When his mother reached forward to give him the candle—that was when he figured it out.

            All that he touched was air.

            With wide eyes, Eren stared at his fingers in shock. His mother’s hand was trembling.

            “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you goodbye. But not like this.”

            “M-Mom,” Eren started, realization dawning. “M-Mom…what—”

            “Eren, I’m going to need you to call your grandmother, okay?”

            Eren stayed silent, his eyes wide and his body trembling.

            “Eren, listen to me.”

            Her gaze was strong. There were no traces of tears in her eyes anymore. Just determination.

            “Someone will come looking for me, but they want you, too. Only your grandmother knows about them. She can take care of you. So go to that phone and call your grandmother, Eren.”

            With unsteady feet, Eren stood, walking towards the phone and dialing the number.

            As he told his grandmother that his mother had passed, Eren looked straight at her and at her proud smile. When the call was finished, his mother was already directing him to pack his things.

            She avoided touching him even though Eren knew that she wanted to.

            And then she was gone.

            When she left, a man in a suit wearing a black hat appeared. He was tall, blonde, and intimidating, with cold, blue eyes. Underneath that black hat, the man looked straight down at him, his large eyebrows furrowed.

            “You look familiar,” he said, his tone surprisingly confused underneath that confident exterior. “You…” he narrowed his eyes. “You’re a lost soul, aren’t you?”

            Eren’s eyes were wide, but that didn’t stop him from scurrying away and into the darkness.

            The very confused reaper allowed him to leave, but only because we was so caught off guard by the fact that the young kid was able to both see him and hear him even while he was supposed to be completely invisible.

            A few years after that ordeal, Eren’s grandmother passed, and he was thrown into the life of his father, who had abandoned him at birth but had signed the papers that gave him his last name.

            His father had remarried twice and divorced twice. He had no other children aside from Eren, but that didn’t stop him from making Eren his personal maid. In fact, he took advantage of the fact that they were alone in that house to sometimes take it out on him if something didn’t go right at work or in his life.

            For one whole month, Eren sported various bruises all over his arms and some on his face.

            If his classmates didn’t think he was a delinquent before, they definitely did then, and they did everything to avoid him more strongly.

            Today, the day before his birthday, was one of the days when Eren was really hoping for a few hours of peace.

            It was obviously too soon to be hoping for miracles like that, because, almost as soon as Eren arrived home, he was overwhelmed by the strong stench of beer and cigarettes coming from the inside.

            Covering his nose in an attempt to dissuade the odor, Eren could hear the distant sound of the television static rolling in the background. A cough and then a body adjusting itself.

            Eren had decided to stay in a café for a few hours in order to avoid both the rain and coming back home, but it was already getting dark. It also wouldn’t help that any little thing he did would be viewed in a negative light anyway.

            Tightening the hold on his backpack as he took it off his back, Eren could tell that his father knew he was present from the sudden click of the television remote and the silence that ensued. Undecided on whether he should just walk forward or stay by the open door, that choice was soon made for him as his father approached the entrance of the kitchen. His hands were folded in front of him, eyes cold.

            “Close the door,” he ordered.

            A little hesitantly, Eren obeyed, the door shutting to a close. His fingers strayed on the knob as a small sense of relief.

            “You didn’t cook like I told you to,” Grisha said. “I ended up having to spend money because your lazy ass can’t follow simple orders.”

            Oh. _Fuck._

            He’d completely forgotten. He’d been extremely distracted about other matters that he’d completely forgotten.

            Grisha’s gaze was hard. He stared straight at him. And then—

            “I don’t know where you’ll be sleeping tonight,” he said, voice turning mocking, “But it won’t be here.”

            As Eren’s expression began to morph into panic, Grisha’s features became more contemptuous.

            “Get out,” he ordered.

            “B-But—Dad—”

            In a second, Grisha’s expression became filled with rage as he charged forth, pushing Eren against the door and holding his neck in his pulpy hands. He tightened his hold as Eren struggled to tear his fingers off.

            “Don’t call me that,” Grisha hissed as Eren choked. “I’m not your father, and that bitch knew that, too.”

            Loosening his hold and pushing Eren against the door one more time, Grisha walked away.

            “Get out,” Grisha said one last time before his back disappeared into the living room. “Come back tomorrow when you’re finally ready to do as you’re told.”

            Struggling to regain his breath, Eren hurried to grab his backpack again with shaking fingers, forcing the door to reopen as he ran out.

            It was starting to already get dark.

            The rain had stopped a few hours ago, but the streets were still wet, remnants of tears that had been shed and hadn’t been wiped dry yet.

            The rain reminded him of his mother.

            “It rains because an angel is feeling sad, baby,” she would say, softly squishing his cheeks as he smiled. “They feel sad, but they can’t cry, so the sky cries for them.”

            Eren wanted to cry, too.

            “FUCK YOU!” he shouted, his voice shaking as sobs started to wrack in his chest. “FUCK YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!”

            A cat lazily resting on one of the store steps startled and ran to hide in the shadows.

            Eren noticed the movement and laughed, suddenly very aware of where he was and what he was doing. God, he hated himself.

            Luckily, there wasn’t anyone around to notice his tantrum, but a shocked store clerk did peek out of the window to see what the flurry was about.

            Sparing himself from more embarrassment, Eren decided to just keep walking for a while. Maybe he could find somewhere where he could sleep without making even more a fool of himself.

            It was after he decided to rest from walking around for a few hours that Eren saw a pair of ghosts looking in his direction from the darkness. They were whispering, huddled, and they kept pointing to him. Eren rolled his eyes.

            “That’s the Goblin’s Bride,” he heard, and he pretended not to see their pointed fingers, their incessant voices.

            “The Goblin’s Bride…”

            “The Goblin’s Bride…”

            The whispers were starting again, and, honestly, Eren was getting sick of it. He’d tried to have Armin tell him what those words meant, but he didn’t know. In order to help, Armin had set Connie and Sasha to try to convince one of the ladies in the block to spill the beans, but, so far, both of them had been unsuccessful.

            The ghosts that called him that looked at him with a combination of fear and awe in their eyes. All of them. As if he were some magical being with the power to destroy them with just one flourish of his hand.

            Deciding to avoid the ones currently spying on him, Eren stood up from one of the chairs outside the convenience store he had been sitting on in order to enter the small shop instead.

            The bell on the door rang, signaling his entrance. A bored clerk glanced up and then back at his phone.

            As Eren walked through the aisles, he noticed, with a glance at the store clock, that it would only be a few minutes for his birthday to officially start.

            Man, what a birthday.

            With those thoughts in his head, Eren was surprised to spot a small, white cake on one of the counters. A light feeling spread through his body. It’d been years—ever since his mother died—that he’d had the urge to buy a cake. That sounded delicious about now. One thing to celebrate for his birthday, if nothing else.

            Eren didn’t make wishes. He didn’t believe in them.

            But maybe this would change?

            Grabbing some candles and a box of matches on his way to the counter as well, Eren paid and then headed outside again, grabbing his seat.

            Alone out here—with the midnight stars twinkling their greetings and moon lightly smiling down at him—Eren remembered the story his mom always used to tell him—the one with the snowy night and cherry blossoms and an angel that appeared from heaven to save them both. Back when his mother had been pregnant, someone had attempted to do a hit and run, and she had almost died that night, along with him. But it was her begging that had an angel come to her side and soothe her with his words.

            Eren didn’t really believe in angels or in magic, but he really wanted something to change.

            He wanted to feel as if he were actually living—as if his life had a purpose…He wanted to feel that he was needed by someone else…

            Lighting the match and then placing the candle over the cake, Eren was suddenly surprised by the drop of water that fell on top of his nose. And fuck. He knew then that someone was just out to get him.

            As it started to drizzle, Eren decided in that moment that he wasn’t going to give this one up. Not now. Not ever. He deserved to at least enjoy a wish in peace, so, gritting his teeth, Eren grabbed the lid that had been over the cake before and used it as a roof so that he could light a match once again and bring the purple candle to life.

            With determination in his eyes, Eren leaned forward.

            “I want to be happy,” he wished. “Please let me be happy.”

            And he blew the candle.

            Almost as if caught by surprise, the rain slowed down a little, but the front of Eren’s black hoodie was already soaked. He was still homeless for the night, and his father still hated him. Nothing had really changed in the span of a few seconds.

            Except—

            At the same time that he noticed it was still raining but he wasn’t getting wet, he looked up to see a black umbrella over his head and a very pissed off and annoyed handsome, short man looking straight at him and holding said umbrella.

            “You called, brat?” he asked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Levi**

 

            Levi was currently very confused. Very confused and a little irritated.

            “It was you, wasn’t it?” Levi double-checked, the corner of his mouth turning upwards in a snarky manner. “It was you who called me?”

            The boy in front of him was looking straight at him with wide, green eyes. He shook his head as if to will away his stupor.

            “You—do I know you?” the boy asked, his eyes hesitantly looking at his chest and then up to his eyes. “Are you a ghost?”

            “You guys could get more original with the guesses,” Levi said, smirking a little as he looked down at him. For a few seconds, Levi caught himself admiring those smooth features and his strong cheekbones—even his eyes, which he had originally thought of as green—were a strange combination of blue and dark green and a few golden hues. What he found more surprising, however, was the fact that, at first glance, he couldn’t see into this boy’s future entirely—only strange, random glimpses of images that were too far-away to grasp. Levi pulled those thoughts away from his mind.

            He had to find out why, for the first time in all of the entirety of his existence, he had been forcefully pulled away from where he was to heed a human’s call…unless this human was a powerful ghost?

            But the person in front of him didn’t really hold any of the features of any annoying ghosts. Just the features of a normal human.

            He did look like an idiot, though…with the way in which his mouth gaped a little like that.

            “You’re just not like the ghosts that I’m used to…” the boy said, finally getting himself together. “You’re…more…solid…” The way in which his eyes hesitated on Levi’s chest again set off a few bells in Levi’s head, and Levi followed his gaze.

            There was no way that he could see it, right?

            Nobody could see it, and no one had for centuries.

            However, the words the boy had said had finally sunk in, and Levi looked back at him in surprise, his umbrella stilling over both of their heads.

            “What?” Levi choked out, caught off guard. “You can see ghosts?”

            The boy’s eyes slipped away from him and behind Levi. Levi, following his gaze, turned to see where he was staring. Sure enough, there was a group of three ghosts looking straight back at them. At Levi’s gaze, the ghosts froze, as if shocked, and then they stumbled into each other in a flurry to get away, fizzling away like air.

            “That’s a first,” the boy said, his voice a bit surprised. “They’ve never run away like that.”

            Ignoring the comment, Levi looked back at the boy’s face. Well, this was unusual. You didn’t get humans that could see ghosts very often. Maybe he was actually a reaper? He didn’t feel like one though. He wasn’t a blank slate. Just very confusing—like a collage of different colors and emotions and memories.

            But Levi wasn’t here for that.

            He was here because of that voice.

            Which reminded him…

            “Brat,” Levi demanded, noticing that the rain was steadily becoming a small drizzle, just small droplets over his black umbrella, fading softly. “You called me. You wanted something, so now tell me what that is.”

            The boy looked back at him, his plump lips a little apart. “I—what?” he asked, a little stupidly.

            Levi pursed his lips, his eyebrows furrowing a little in irritation.

            This brat had the guts to snatch him away from his midnight walk and now to waste his time. This was the first time Levi was forcefully taken away from somewhere else to appear in front of someone like this. He had to give the boy the benefit of the doubt, though. He looked as confused as Levi was. All that Levi knew was that, before he had disappeared from his previous location, he had heard this boy’s voice—begging…begging for something. All that Levi knew was that he had to help him achieve it…Whatever it was that he wanted.

            “Before I came here,” Levi remarked, “You wanted something.” Levi’s eyes rested on the cake in front of the boy, where a lone candle lay extinguished. “You wished for something. Tell me what that is.”

            Steadily, Levi watched as the boy’s expression became one of realization, and it was almost cute how his eyes lit up like that—bright eyes wide and his cheeks pink.

            “Ah!” he exclaimed, his eyes falling in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his neck. “That…It wasn’t really…”

            “Just tell me,” Levi ordered as he closed his umbrella. The rain around them had stopped.

            The boy avoided Levi’s gaze, biting his lips and looking away, only to glance back at Levi with an innocent, naïve look. His eyelashes were long, and they curled over his eyes sensually. And Levi really shouldn’t be thinking about that.

            “I just…” the boy’s voice faded. “I told—I just wished to be happy.” At the end of those words, his voice had settled a bit—become clear and resolute.

            Levi weighed the sentence in his head, his eyes narrowing a bit to glare at the boy in front of him.

            “That’s way too broad,” Levi said, his voice irritated. “Give me something that I can work with here, you shitty brat.”

            Levi saw when he offended him because his mouth opened in shock, and his brows furrowed in sudden anger.

            “You’re one shitty gypsy, old man,” the boy snarled, lifting himself up from his chair to look down at Levi with those green eyes. They were like a storm in the brink of becoming a tornado.

            Levi snorted, smiling a little.

            “The term is genie, dumbass,” he answered back. “And I’m none of those.”

            He met his gaze without withering away.

            “Now, hurry up and tell me what you want or I’m leaving.”

            Once the boy saw that Levi was serious, he set his shoulders down, becoming smaller but not leaving Levi’s stare.

            “Well?” Levi asked, a little annoyed at having him hesitate too much.

            “Okay!” the boy shouted, a little in exasperation when Levi turned to leave. “I want a job!” A little hesitantly and with a small voice… “And a girlfriend…”

            “Greedy much, aren’t you,” Levi mocked, turning back with a grin.

            The boy scratched the back of his neck and avoided Levi’s gaze as it bore onto his face. Levi tried hard not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. He usually helped people who were in need and whose lives were a wreck, but this guy was something else. Cheeky brat.

            Levi focused.

            In his eyes, the person in front of him had a lot of his past written out in violence and death. He saw a woman with green eyes like his, smiling sadly, a candle in pale fingers—a man whose hands continuously held a brown bottle that he cradled preciously before he drank. Smoke…

            Levi’s pupils dilated.

            He couldn’t see a lot of this boy’s future like he could for others—almost as if it wasn’t set in stone yet—as if something was holding it back from him…

            But what he could see…

            There was one image that stayed.

            Levi’s own face. Staring down into green eyes as he smiled in endearment. And it was so strange—the shock that suddenly stung Levi’s body. Levi was in this man’s future—looking at him—almost as if—he loved him.

            But it could just as easily be a mistake. Fate wasn’t set. Fate was never set.

            The boy’s eyes bore onto Levi’s face a little guiltily, as if he didn’t want to impose too much. Yet his eyes were curious, questioning.

            Levi’s voice was a bit distracted.

            “Find a chicken restaurant,” Levi said. “Apply for all of them, and you’ll find something there.”

            The boy’s brows furrowed. “Okay…? I’ll do that.”

            Levi turned to leave.

            “But—wait!” the boy yelled at Levi’s escaping back. “What about my girlfriend?”

            Levi turned back a little to set the boy with a glare. But he found that he really had nothing to say. He didn’t see a woman in the little that he could see of his future.

            Instead—

            “What’s your name?” Levi asked back, and, surprised, the green-eyed beauty said, “Eren. I’m Eren.”

            And Levi smiled. A real smile this time.

            “I’m Levi,” he said, before turning away again and disappearing.

            If it was meant to be, it was meant to be. All that Levi had to do was wait.

            He had waited 300 years after all.

 

X

 

            Levi found that the memories were the hardest to forget.

            In his old life, there was a king.

            This king was handsome. Young. Reckless.

            Levi was his dog.

            “The King’s Dog,” the people called him, and, in a way, they weren’t wrong. If there was anything the King wanted, he would get, and Levi would be the one to get it for him.

            At a tender age, Levi had trained to become an assassin. He met the young king as he approached twenty-five. Levi had started to train others to follow in his path, showing them how to fight and defend themselves. Among those that wanted to learn the most was Levi’s sister, a beautiful girl with large eyes and hair as dark as his.

            Although, at that time, it was expected of women to learn the ways of elegance and refinement—of pretty dresses and jewelry—Levi’s sister never had an interest for that type of thing. She wanted to follow in his footsteps, and she was good at it. Levi saw potential as she grew older, adapting to the world around her and adjusting to a steady pace.

            When he first met the king, Levi was at the age of twenty-four. The king was ten.

            As Levi became tied to the crown because of his skill, he saw the king grow.

            The king’s father had passed when he was young, so he was now taking on the role of power but as a child.

            It’s surprising how children adapt to this type of power. With enough help, a child can become a great ruler. With too much power, however, and easily-influenced minds, that child can become a monster.

            By the time the king had become fifteen, Levi had already become close to him. Levi was honest to him, and the prince, in turn, would share his plans with him.

            As the years had passed, Levi had become not only his guard dog, but his errand runner.

            If the prince wanted someone dead, that person would be gone within the next fortnight.

            Levi was good at that.

            Things started to change when the people started to rebel.

            They would burn down trading centers that were in the prince’s name. They came to the palace walls in spikes and carrying fire on wood, screaming.

            They didn’t want a young king that was killing people back and forth. They wanted the king’s dog dead.

            It was one or both.

            The king chose Levi.

            Deciding to appease the people and get things back into order, the king stood in the center of the field, holding Levi’s own sword over his head, brandished and shining in the light. The people were cheering in the background, in crowds, as they yelled.

            Levi saw his sister as she raced forward from the crowd, but she was held back by three guards as she kicked and shoved. Her knife fell to the ground as she was pushed to the ground and kicked in return.

            Levi remembers attempting to pick himself off from his knees to reach her, but he was pulled back down by his shoulders.

            “For the new rule,” the young king said, blue eyes gazing straight into Levi’s as he struck the sword right through Levi’s chest.

            Levi was left to die in the middle of a field.

            During the last hours, Levi cursed the gods the most. He had never felt as powerless as he did then, his arms extended over him as the dirt stuck to his clothes and to the blood that spilled out of his chest.

            Levi died, but he couldn’t remember much of his death. Only that he was lost. He was lost in a dark place, and he wasn’t able to figure out who he was or where he came from.

            It was the voice that brought him back.

            When he opened his eyes again, Levi was gazing straight at a butterfly resting over a flower. Its wings were golden and frail, its appearance soft. The voice seemed to exude from that creature in his head.

            “I don’t like you very much,” that voice said. “You’ve cursed at me, spit at my gifts…”

            The butterfly took flight, its wings glinting against the grey light of the moon.

            “But your sister hasn’t. She prayed for you until her death, and her love and loyalty for you made me decide to bring you back.”

            Flying over the grass, the butterfly didn’t settle until Levi attempted to pick himself up, his legs weak. It was then that he noticed his old sword right in the middle of his chest, exactly where his old injury still was. When Levi attempted to grab a hold of his sword, he found that it wouldn’t budge.

            “I’ve decided to punish you,” the voice said. “What I’ve given you is both a blessing and a curse.”

            Levi stumbled forward as the weight of his body was too much, but he caught himself in time before he fell.

            “You will live forever…”

            Levi steadied his feet, his expression determined as he saw a dirt road. The same dirt road where they had thrown him away like spoiled, dead cattle.

            “But you will always be alone and unable to forget your memories.”

            Stepping over the grass, gaining strength although he was still a little flustered, Levi set out over that same road and towards his old town.

            Towards the palace.

            “Only one person—the person who can see the sword on your chest—will be able to free you of your curse…

            “Find your bride and you’ll be free.”

            When Levi arrived at the town, he found that years had passed.

            Many years.

            His sister was dead.

            And the old king was, too.

            He heard that the king had grown to become a young adult. He had committed suicide after another peasant revolt had surfaced. The peasants had come with torches and knives and broken down the palace walls. His guards had betrayed him, too.

            The king killed himself before they broke down his door.

            Levi didn’t have anywhere to go after that.

            Everyone that he knew before was gone.

            Ever since the day he died, Levi has been alone. There were a few people he told his secret to, but, as time passed, they left him behind, too.

            In the moments where he remained like this…those were the moments in which he attempted to end it all.

            He would attempt to take the sword out of his chest, but, when it would usually get out at his orders, it would now stay rigidly in its place.

            Fire wouldn’t burn him.

            Water wouldn’t drown him.

            Another person attempting to murder him wouldn’t work either.

            So Levi waited. For that person the God mentioned was his bride. He searched but never found, so he gave up. After two hundred years of being unable to find anyone within the billions of people in the world, Levi realized that fate was against him.

            He searched for her for years.

            But he gave up after a few hundred.

            As a Goblin, one of the things that he gained was his ability to judge character and see the future of specific people. Sometimes, he saw some of the people in his visions becoming someone of importance. Other times, that starving girl, if a certain part of her life went differently, could either become someone incredibly violent and terrible or she could become someone of humble origin and a great potential to become a leader.

            Levi became that little push they needed.

            With all of this time in his hands, helping others pull themselves together was what he did the most. Above everything, however, one of the things that he avoided the most was getting in the middle of a reaper and the dying. He had only once ever broken his rule, but, with breaking rules, the consequences of this is the order of the world.

            The dead are supposed to stay dead, and, even though Levi had the power to end life, he also had the power to give it. It was his price for being alive. However, messing with the order of life and death would always come back to bite him in the ass. The reapers let him know that every time he attempted to “fix” something that wasn’t meant to be fixed.

            And, currently, he was wondering if he did anything to piss off a recent reaper because one was right in front of him.

            “What are you doing in my house?” Levi asked, his voice furious and his body very still.

            The reaper in front of him had been busy folding his clothes in the living room, but now he looked straight at Levi with the same gaze—like a yellow cheetah about to lunge. His blue eyes were cold, dark eyebrows thick and face calculating.

            “What are _you_ doing here?” the man challenged back, back straightening to look down at Levi. Levi hated when they used the height tactic. “I am here because I am renting this place. That means that I currently own it.”

            At those words, Levi knew exactly what was going on.

            And there was only one word that summed it up…

            Jean.

            That idiot.

 

X

 

            “You said that you were going to stay in France,” Jean argued, the movement of his arms as he attempted to explain almost desperate. He was losing face, and he knew it.

            Levi’s brow was curved in amusement and a tad bit of annoyance as he drank from his tea cup. The reaper was next to him with his arms crossed in front of him, a dark glare in his eyes.

            Jean had become extremely spoiled throughout the years. Pixis, his adoptive grandfather, and Levi’s most trusted advisor (the only man that knew of Levi’s past and what he was) had attempted to deviate the boy from becoming too greedy. But, even through his scolding, Jean had still become spoiled. Endearingly spoiled, Levi had to add, but annoyingly so.

            It was very obvious to Levi that Jean was looking to gain a “little” income while Levi was gone from his house.

            “Well,” Levi said, finally putting down his cup to look at Jean plainly. “I’ve changed my mind.”

            The reaper next to him moved to stand in front of Levi.

            “Excuse me,” he hissed, blue eyes burning embers as he glared at him. “I signed a contract, so you are legally bound to follow it or you will have to pay me the compensation fee.”

            At that, Levi glared back, straightening in his seat as his eyes sharply turned to Jean, who was now uncomfortably touching the back of his head and avoiding his eyes.

            “What compensation?” Levi snarled.

            Prepared, the reaper shoved a packet of papers in front of Levi’s face. Looking at the seven zeroes that followed the price, Levi’s eyes almost bulged out of his face.

            Fuck. He should’ve known that owning an expensive house was going to bite him in the ass. He never would’ve thought it would be this way though.

            Levi’s lips set into a straight line, and he glared at the reaper in front of him.

            “This is my home,” he decided to say instead, “and I am living here.”

            He would just form a treaty. For all three of them, even if Jean was still an absolute idiot.

            “I’ll take one of the rooms,” Levi said, knowing that he couldn’t push the reaper out of here without also losing one of his arms as well. Jean had made sure of that. He was definitely going to tell Pixis to suspend all of his cards.

            Levi needed to stay here. And he knew that it had everything to do with the brat he had met last night.

            Something told him that he couldn’t just leave and escape to France like he always did.

            At his words, the reaper had looked like he was about to argue, but, to avoid the confrontation, Levi rose from his seat and climbed up the stairs. He ignored the glares following him until he closed the door of his room.

            He just stood there for a while, admiring the brown light that flitted through the curtains, small sparkles of golden dust floating in the air.

            His room hadn’t changed at all since he had left all of those years ago.

            It was still tidy. A little dusty for sure, but only a little. Levi had Pixis contract someone to clean it every once in a while in case he would ever return. And, sure enough, here he was.

            A little wearily, Levi approached his desk. He had a few books neatly arranged in a corner, a few of his journals collected to the side. What he reached for, however, was none of that…instead, it was a scroll. An old one from centuries ago.

            The tips of his fingers softly caressed the outside.

            At one point of his life, he had opened it so many times that it had become worn down from overuse. Now, he rarely opened it. Not only because he didn’t want to damage it further but because he would only reopen old wounds…wounds that were so old yet forever open that they would sometimes bleed again—almost as if they had happened yesterday.

            “Are you doing well, I wonder…” Levi whispered, his fingers softly leaning away as the light of the window caressed the plane of his palm.

 

X

 

**Eren**

 

            Eren was stressed.

            It was honestly making him a little furious.

            “Chicken place,” Eren pouted, tying his laces again even though he had only just re-tied them ten minutes ago. The laces kept disentangling because he kept stepping on them accidentally.

            It had been a few days ago since he had met that strange man on his eighteenth birthday—and Eren had done everything to heed his advice and apply for every chicken store out there. Still, though. It was difficult to remain enthusiastic when he kept getting rejected.

            This was the sixth place that he had applied to, and it was the same response.

            “Sorry…You’re not really what we’re looking for.”

            Maybe he should just give up?

            Softly, from where he crouched on the ground, Eren tapped the cement. He was on the side of the road, away from where cars passed. He had been walking for a while in an attempt to find another restaurant, so he had deviated from the main roads.

            He had been keeping it from Grisha that he was applying for positions. It would probably make him angry. That, or he would start demanding that Eren give him everything that he earned. He would have to find an excuse for why he would start getting late back home. That is, if Eren got any jobs.

            Deciding that it wouldn’t do him much good to remain dillydallying, Eren got to his feet and continued forward. In the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a small café-looking place. The huge chicken in between the words “Mika’s Kitchen” made him hesitate for a bit before entering.

            A bell rang over his head, and Eren’s curious eyes spotted a woman in the middle of the restaurant. Her sharp, dark eyes bore into him as she sipped on her tea. Eren couldn’t help having a little bit of déjà vu with that gaze on him. It reminded him a lot of the rude ghost man from that night on his birthday.

            The woman was extremely gorgeous. Her stature was athletic, and her figure was lithe. Her hair was cut to a little above her shoulders. At his entrance, her dark eyes brightened a little. He could see why, though. Her shop was empty.

            “Customer?” she asked, lifting herself from her seat in greeting. At those words, Eren felt really embarrassed, and his cheeks reddened a bit.

            “Not really,” he admitted. “I’m actually here to look for a job?”

            At the end of those words, she tilted her head to assess him fully. Her gaze didn’t reveal anything, and Eren felt a little unnerved by the experience in her gaze. It seemed fully above her years.

            “What’s your name?” she asked, extending her hand for him to shake.

            Eren approached forward and shook it firmly.

            “Eren,” he informed, giving her a small smile. “Yours?”

            “Mikasa,” she responded back, her face looking a bit younger as she gifted a small smile back. She motioned him to take a seat before saying the next words.

            “Nice to meet you,” she greeted. “Now, can you go ahead and tell me about yourself?”

 

X

 

            Eren was in a bit of a daze.

            He had been so worried about getting a job these past few days, so, now a package of chicken richer, his stomach was full, and his steps were light.

            Maybe Levi was right. Maybe he would find his fortune in a chicken restaurant. He was a lot happier already, and it had been a long time since he had felt so full.

            It was in these thoughts of Levi that Eren walked through the park, enjoying himself for the first time in months. Who knew that a handsome man with deep eyes like that had all the answers to all of his questions?

            Eren hummed, hugging his bucket of chicken a little closer.

            There weren’t a lot of people in the park then, mostly just one couple walking their dog, a man smoking a cigarette, and another selling hotdogs on a stand, although it looked like he was preparing to leave. At the sight of the man with the cigarette, Eren couldn’t help but to remember Grisha. These last few days had been hell. A lot of shouting and pushing around. After the last incident, Eren had tried to avoid staying out too late in case he forgot something again, but he had been careful to not step too out of line. He was just lucky that Grisha was still allowing him to live there.

            Grisha had wanted him out of that house since way long ago, but, recently, those feelings looked like they were starting to become stronger.

            With a frown, Eren glanced at his meal.

            Even food had been difficult to come by lately. Grisha wouldn’t let him touch his food because he said that Eren didn’t deserve it. Eren had been dealing with just eating in school and saving some of it to eat later.

            That’s why he needed this job so badly. Without it, Eren was sure that he would probably begin to starve.

            With those thoughts, Eren saw as the man from before approached the trashcan next to him and chunked his cigarette. Eren sniffed in distaste, catching a whiff of smoke as it fell into the trashcan.

            Eren didn’t think much of it until he saw the fire just a few seconds later.

            With his heart suddenly clinging to his throat, Eren jumped from his seat and towards the trashcan—where he started to crazily blow and flap his arms in an attempt to stop it getting bigger. Which was a feat because it didn’t look like it would smooth down any time soon.

            It was like this that a disgruntled Levi found him, a toothbrush in his hands and wearing his pajamas.

            “Do you have nothing better to do than call me at night?” Levi complained, walking forward in his black slippers, his silk grey pajamas fitting comfortably over his body as he walked forward. He held his ego on his chest as he strutted forward, all class and reigned-in temper.

            At the desperate look Eren threw him, Levi noticed what all of the fuss was all about and rolled his eyes. With a twist of his wrist, the fire was gone, leaving behind a very flustered Eren, whose bangs were a little sweaty over his eyes.

            “W-why are _you_ here?” Eren asked, a little out of breath from the small panic attack he just suffered.

            Levi threw him a glare.

            “You called me here again, you idiot,” Levi responded in turn. Eren’s face was pure confusion.

            “I didn’t call you,” Eren clarified, a bit offended at the annoyance in Levi’s tone. “If you didn’t notice before you arrived, I was kind of preoccupied with more important things.”

            The snark was unintentional, but it was still there. Levi didn’t pretend not to notice it.

            Instead, he just fixed Eren with a blank stare, attempting to read his expression but only getting exactly what he had just received. Confusion and irritation. This boy was seriously unaware of anything that Levi had just gone through. He had literally just finished washing his teeth when he had felt that pull again, and he was forced here, where Eren was. Levi couldn’t control it, and that’s what bothered him the most.

            “Well, you did,” Levi scowled as his brows furrowed. “Try not to do it again if you’re going to be an ass about it.”

            With those words, Levi stomped away—slippers, pajamas, and all.

            At the unintentionally comical sight, Eren couldn’t help the small smile that flitted through his lips. The back of Levi’s head had small little hairs curled up, rebels among the rigid straightness of the others that so neatly covered his undercut. They bounced softly as Levi walked away, almost as if waving goodbye.

            _Cute_ , Eren thought, still smiling before catching himself and looking away before he stared too long.


	3. Chapter 3

**Eren**

 

            The third time Eren called Levi, like all times previous, it was by accident.

            He was on his way home after work. Mikasa had given him one of those fireworks that you can hold by hand—the ones that light up and emit small sparks until they fizzle out—when a few of the sparks got too close. Eren startled and blew on the stick, jumping a bit to avoid the fire touching his hands.

            He had been so focused on the small firework as he walked that it took him hearing Levi clearing his throat to catch his attention.

            Levi was still as grumpy-looking as ever, but he still remained as handsome, with his clean-cut appearance and those sharp features. His jawline was very well-defined, and his lips were plump. His hair was swept back.

            “What are you staring at, brat?” Levi interrupted, bringing Eren out of his mini stupor.

            “Nothing,” Eren scowled, turning his gaze to the firework in his hand as it slowly fizzled out.

            Eren expected Levi to leave again like the last time, but, instead, Levi just looked at the firework in his hands as well. He didn’t say much at all—didn’t complain that Eren had called him again, even if he had by accident. Eren could tell that he wanted to. He saw the way Levi bit his lip as if he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. So, to make it easier for both of them, Eren smiled at him and chose to make small conversation.

            “I got a job,” Eren informed, lightheartedly walking forward again. A little hesitatingly, Levi matched in his steps, walking alongside him.

            “I guess that I have to thank you for that.”

            Levi didn’t say anything, but he glanced at Eren with curious eyes.

            “I didn’t do anything,” Levi said, suddenly giving him a small smirk. “You were the one that did all of the work. All I did was give you a push in a specific direction. I could just as easily have said burger place.”

            The tips of Eren’s ears reddened, as did his cheeks. His eyebrows furrowed a bit, but he held back his words, opting to purse his lips instead.

            Levi watched all of Eren’s emotions flit through his face with an amused expression.

            “I’m not a genie, Eren,” he laughed. “I can only help you. You are the one that has to worry about the hard work. I can only taste part of your fate. Not all of it.”

            At that, Eren huffed a little, still proud, but he was calmer.

            “What are you then?” Eren asked, studying as Levi’s expression became blank. Levi pursed his lips and looked away.

            “You wouldn’t know what I am,” Levi said instead, avoiding the topic. Eren wasn’t one to pry, but he was very curious. For a few seconds, Eren’s eyes strayed on Levi’s chest, and Levi looked straight back at him with a startled expression.

            Out of nowhere, Levi’s hand shot out to hold Eren’s arm, and Eren jumped.

            “Eren…” Levi’s voice was strange. “Eren—can you—do you see it?”

            Eren didn’t understand the look in Levi’s eyes, but it made him a little nervous.

            “I don’t know,” he said, his voice clear. “Am I supposed to see anything?”

            At that, Levi abruptly dropped his hold on Eren, the look on his face suddenly very blank.

            “No,” Levi said, his tone curt. “No, you’re not supposed to see anything.”

            An unfamiliar type of guilt settled in the middle of Eren’s chest, and he bit his lip to repress some of it. For a moment, Eren had the urge to grip Levi’s arm as he looked so lost.

            “I...I have to go,” Levi finally said, his lips settled into a frown.

            Eren’s “okay” was small as Levi disappeared into thin air.

            The fizzled-out firework in between Eren’s fingers crumbled a little as Eren started to walk again. For some reason, Eren couldn’t tear apart the sensation that he should be paying more attention to something. Something about Levi wasn’t adding up. Something about _him_ wasn’t adding up.

            How were they tied together?

            Levi kept mentioning that Eren was calling him, but Eren wasn’t aware of it. So he knew that he wasn’t doing it purposefully.

            Biting his lip, Eren softly twirled the firework in between his fingertips, letting out a small whistle.

            And that was when he knew.

 

X

 

            Eren tested out his theory behind a convenience store parking lot.

            Holding a candle and a shiny, black lighter in front of him, Eren closed his eyes and then blew.

            At first, he didn’t think it worked. The parking lot was still empty, and he didn’t feel much change in the air. Not until there was a shift at his side, and Eren saw Levi in a green over-sized coat, his hands stuffed in his pockets. His face was covered almost-completely. Only his grey eyes were visible over his jacket’s collar.

            “What do you want,” Levi drawled lazily.

            At the sight of Levi, Eren couldn’t help the excited smile that adorned his features. He did a little dance, completely disregarding the fact that there was a grown man staring at him in unbridled disgust.

            “I figured it out,” Eren squealed in glee, showing Levi the black lighter.

            One of Levi’s eyebrows rose, and he looked back into Eren’s face for clarification.

            “Fire,” Eren explained, his eyes bright. “I have to blow out fire. That’s how I’m calling you.”

            “Oh.” Levi’s response was soft. “That’s interesting.”

            Levi stared at the lighter in Eren’s hand, and he reached for it.

            “Give me that,” he ordered, snatching it out of Eren’s grip.

            “Asshole,” Eren grumbled as Levi lit the lighter. Levi ignored him and studied the blaze for a few seconds. He brought it in front of Eren’s face, keeping it a few inches away. Caught off guard, Eren backed up a little, looking at Levi in confusion.

            “Blow it,” Levi ordered. A little out of his zone but not seeing why not, Eren pursed his lips and blew, extinguishing the flame.

            “Well…” Levi accentuated, his eyes lingering on Eren’s pursed lips for a second before looking into Eren’s green eyes. “There’s definitely a pull.”

            Eyes moving away, Levi studied the lighter in between his fingers, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Eren stared at Levi, his eyebrows raised in silent interrogation.

            What was he going to do now that he knew how Eren could call him?

            Finally, Levi released a small breath, handing the lighter back to its owner.

            Burrowing his face back into his jacket, Levi stayed silent as Eren looked at him a little hopefully. Eren didn’t know if it was a trick of the light, but Levi’s cheeks were a little pink.

            “Just don’t use it often,” he said before sparing Eren a glance and then looking away, disappearing in a mirage of blurry wind.

 

X

 

            Eren didn’t know what Levi meant by “often”, but he decided that he would make his own definition for it.

            That “often” became at least three times every week.

            If Eren wasn’t feeling up to the weather and Armin wasn’t cheering him up enough, all that he had to do was fire up his lighter and blow. A grumpy Levi would follow, but Eren quickly grew to find out that Levi was mostly all bark and no bite.

            He was usually so unfriendly in his exterior, but, when Eren wasn’t feeling well, all that Levi had to do was sit next to him and offer him a handkerchief or an ear so that he could listen to his problems. Levi was the type of person that didn’t like to make a big deal out of helping people, but he would still help them, albeit silently.

            Very maturely, he wouldn’t mention anything, but, if Eren was jogging and he was thirsty, Levi would notice and quietly hand him a water bottle.

            Even if he wouldn’t show it in his emotions, Eren found that Levi cared.

            Even if it was just a little.

            After a few times of meeting Levi like this, Eren began to wonder even more about him.

            It was like this that Eren began to question if the ghosts that whispered around him so often had one thing right.

            What if Levi was the Goblin that they mentioned so much?

            And what would that mean to Eren if he was?

            “Have you guys figured anything out yet?”

            Lightly leaning on the palm of hand, Eren doodled on the corner of his notebook. Beside his desk, Armin lay on his bed, drumming his fingers against the mattress and staring at the ceiling. At the sound of Eren’s voice, he sat up a bit only to lean against the corner of Eren’s desk.

            “Not more than what I’ve already told you,” Armin said, grinning a bit. “All that Connie and Sasha were able to get out of those old ladies is what I know.”

            Eren frowned a bit, furrowing his eyebrows.

            It would be great if only he could get more information about those words.

            Goblin’s Bride. Goblin’s Bride.

            For some reason, they were irking him even more recently. Especially now that he knew that a magical being was attached to him through just the blow of a candle.

            One of the things that Connie and Sasha had found out was that Goblin’s were very old and powerful beings.

             “They’ve died at one point of their lives,” Armin had told Eren the day that Connie and Sasha had excitedly barged into his room to tell them what they learned. “But, for some reason, they were brought back to life.”

            That really made Eren curious. If Levi was a Goblin, how old was he really? How had he died? But what Eren wondered the most was where he was in all of this formula? Why did everyone keep calling him the Goblin’s Bride? Did it have something to do with the birthmark on his neck and the reason why it hadn’t been hurting recently?

            Armin was fixing a small grin on Eren, a little teasing.

            “What’s got you thinking so hard?” he asked, laughing a little. “What have you done with Eren? Eren doesn’t like to think too much.”

            At that, Eren pouted and threw Armin a light fist as Armin giggled on his bed.

            “Shut up,” Eren laughed, releasing a chuckle of his own. However, that chuckle quickly dissolved as he heard the loud bang of a door.

            Armin quickly sat up on the bed, and his pale face whitened even more.

            “Eren,” he said as his gaze drifted to the door. “Eren, something doesn’t feel right.”

            Eren was already stiff on his chair, his eyes wide as he stared at the door, willing it to not open. These past few days, Grisha had been getting even worse. Lately, being in that house had been hell. Every little thing had been triggering him. If something wasn’t in place, Grisha was sure to show Eren that it was his fault.

            By the time the door opened, Eren was already on his feet, unconsciously shoving his chair in between him and Grisha.

            “Fucker,” Grisha growled. His pupils were large in unbridled fury, his hands set into large fists. “Fucker, I know that it was you. Where did you put my money?”

            “W-what?” Eren’s voice shook in both fear and confusion. “What are you talking about?”

            Before he could react, Grisha had already reached forward, pulling Eren forward by his hair and shoving the chair aside.

            “You stole it from my wallet, you fucker. I know that it was you.”

            Tackling Eren to the ground, Grisha began to throw punches over Eren’s face. Attempting to cover his face, Eren lifted his arms. Taking note of this, Grisha began to punch even harder.

            Unable to do much, all that Eren was able to do was let out choked-out cries.

            He felt his nose start to bleed and his face ached, but, now, a new pain bloomed right on the side of his neck, burning in between the punches and the cries of pain. Eren didn’t have much time to think about it at all because that was when Grisha stopped.

            Looking at Grisha in between teary and aching eyes, Eren saw as Grisha breathed hard, his brows furrowed downwards in anger and his teeth gritted.

            “I should’ve gotten rid of you a long time ago,” Grisha said, his tone of voice suddenly becoming eerily calm. “That bitch should’ve died, and you should have died along with her.”

            Eren’s eyes widened as he realized exactly what Grisha was about to do.

            Right in the moment that those thoughts settled, Eren struggled to get up from underneath Grisha, several whines releasing from his throat in desperation.

            Before he could go very far, Grisha shoved Eren down again, but, this time, he placed his hands around Eren’s throat and started to press down.

            Panicking, Eren began to throw punches in retaliation, and he caught Grisha straight on his nose.

            It might have been because Grisha’s mind was already set, but his hands only faltered a little.

            “Stay still,” he growled, punching Eren near his temple. His world suddenly rolling, Eren’s hits faltered, and the hands around his neck began to squeeze again.

            However, just as Eren’s breaths began to falter, he heard a sharp crash and the sound of glass breaking. The hands around his neck slipped, and Grisha’s body fell over him.

            Not wasting time, Eren moved from underneath him, his breath shaky as he assessed the situation.

            Armin, eyes wide and body shaking, help a broken lamp in his hand, looking at Grisha’s unconscious body.

            Throwing him a shocked yet grateful glance, Eren hurriedly grabbed his backpack and ran out of his bedroom door. Just as he passed the kitchen, his eyes swept to the floor, where he noticed a fallen fifty dollar bill.

            Fuck. He would’ve died for fifty dollars.

            Without a look back, Eren opened the door and ran out. He didn’t even get past the first house next to them before he bumped into someone.

            A very worried and desperate someone.

            “Eren,” the voice said. “Eren, fuck, what happened to you?”

            Throughout these past few days, he had become familiar with this voice. But the feeling of those warm hands on his shoulders was new.

            “Levi,” Eren’s voice broke. “Levi, help me.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Levi**

 

            At first, the headache was a bit numb.

            But then that feeling—the notion that something wasn’t right—started to put Levi in an anxious state of mind. Levi couldn’t place the emotions down. There was a pull—as if his body was telling him to be somewhere else—that he couldn’t be here, couldn’t waste time—

            “Calm down, will you.”

            Erwin, the reaper that had walked into his home and claimed it his, was currently calmly drinking tea and holding a newspaper in his hand. He was also fixing Levi with a no-nonsense expression and a lifted eyebrow, something that the reaper had quickly learned really annoyed Levi.

            Erwin had become accustomed to Levi’s antics as the weeks passed, becoming comfortable in his new home

            Levi was pacing back and forth in the living room, his black coat tail flying upwards as he turned to face him.

            “Something isn’t right,” Levi worriedly revealed. He ran his fingers through his hair in distress. “I can’t place it down, but…”

            Levi glanced away, towards the wall, squinting in concentration.

            There. That pull again.

            Fuck it.

            There was only one person that could do that.

            And that pull knew where to take him.

 

X

 

            Levi, in all of his years, his centuries, couldn’t ever recall these turmoil fits inside his chest. The upset of his stomach, the tightening of his fists with the urge to break someone’s nose (a very specific someone), and what felt like the twisting of his heart. It was a very uncomfortable sensation.

            “I don’t want to go back,” Eren said softly, his voice a small whisper.

            In the cold, Levi had already wrapped his jacket around Eren’s shoulders. The sleeves fit him a bit short, so Levi noticed the shivering of those fingers as they clasped together.

            “You won’t go back,” Levi replied. “I don’t see that in your future.”

            Of what he could see, Levi saw Eren far away from the man that he had once called father. Instead, he saw him beside someone else…

            With him.

            Armin, Eren’s friend, was sitting beside him, staring straight at Levi as if he were trying to figure him out. Levi appraised him for a few seconds in return.

            This was a ghost that really cared about Eren. He could see it in the way he defensively created a type barrier with his body that warned Levi about getting closer. Levi thought it was admirable that a ghost would react in such a way, especially since Levi had the power to take them out of their limbo and force them into nothingness. Above all beings, ghosts were the one that hated Levi the most.

            Levi looked back at Eren.

            His face was downcast, his eyelashes creating small shadows over his cheekbones. He seemed so lost—like a child.

            “You can stay with me for the next few days,” Levi informed suddenly, taking in the sight of Eren turning over to look at him. His ears were a bit pink.

            “I know that you have nowhere to stay,” Levi added. “And I don’t mind taking in another brat.”

            He smiled so that Eren could be reassured.

            As he noticed Eren’s hesitance, nonchalantly, Levi leaned back and looked into the darkness. By this time, the afternoon had already fallen, and the streetlights cleared the way in the park.

            It was nobody but them there.

            “I do owe you a wish, after all,” Levi said, looking at Eren from the corner of his eyes.

            Eren’s cheeks were a little pink from the cold, his breaths little puffs of air in the night.

            His body had straightened at Levi’s comment, and he had recovered a little more of that excitement and jubilant energy that he usually owned. A feeling in Levi’s chest lightened. It was similar to relief but wasn’t quite it because it made a pleasant light spread through his body, making it warm.

            “I’ll take you up on your offer then,” Eren grinned, his bright eyes meeting Levi’s with calm, pleasant sparks.

            Yet, even though Levi knew that underneath that smile Eren was hiding a lot of himself—he also knew that it was the best Eren could do. It was his way of getting himself together.

            Armin hesitated, stepping forward as Eren moved.

            “Eren,” he asked, somewhat nervously. “Are you sure about this?”

            Eren froze, studying his friend. But then…

            “Yes,” he grinned, although his smile was very shaky. “I’m okay. Please don’t worry.”

            In response, Armin nodded, giving him a small smile in return.

            Surprising all three of them, Levi wrapped his arm around Eren’s shoulders, providing a little bit of warmth and comfort as they stood up to head towards Levi’s home.

            As they walked away, Armin stayed behind, waving a soft goodbye underneath a sad smile.

 

X

 

**Eren**

 

            Levi’s home was huge.

            Eren was sure that at one point he had stared with his mouth a little agape, and his cheeks had reddened a bit as he noticed Levi looking in his direction.

            Eren wondered if, in his last life, he did something to deserve his own personal, grumpy genie because this was getting a little out of hand. Although he was still a little shaken, it was difficult to not be amazed at the sight in front of him. Levi was probably already used to a lot of people going to his place and viewing such beautiful architecture.

            Stairs led up into two grand doors. The doors themselves were mahogany, red and brown hues etched like a well-made sketch with no stains or imperfections. They seemed as stable as Levi, firm in standing and well-composed.

            The house fit him very well, Eren surmised.

            If Eren thought that the entrance was gorgeous, it was no comparison to the actual inside of the mansion.

            Everything looked so modern—the kitchen and the living room the most—but there was an elegant, old feel to it—like history that wanted to stay written.

            Eren was so distracted looking at his surroundings that, at first, he didn’t notice the tall man sitting on the largest couch, reading a book with a very concentrated look on his face.

            In fact, it wasn’t him Eren that noticed him at all but the other way around, as two blue, sharp eyes swept toward him at the sound of the opening door. In just a few moments, the man stood up from the couch, his usually-blank expression changing into one of shock.

            “You!” he shouted, his posture rigid. “I know you!”

            A little startled at the sudden sound, Eren bumped into Levi, who had also stopped in surprise.

            The blonde man in front of them was very energetic, very confused, and intrigued.

            Speech seemed to have left him for a bit before he finally set his attention on Levi.

            “You—how do you him? Do you know what he is?”

            Levi raised a brow, looking at Eren first and then back at Erwin. He didn’t say anything, just waited for Erwin to say what he needed to say. Levi was a little confused himself. He had never seen Erwin so…..excited… if that was the word for what this was.

            Erwin’s gaze suddenly became very resolute, and he walked forward.

            Eren, recognizing immediately who he was (the reaper that he had met so many years ago), grabbed onto the back of Levi’s coat and hid behind him, his green eyes wide.

            Levi was in a bit of a loss at the sudden hide and seek going on behind him, but he chose to remain calm, stopping Erwin with a hand to his chest before he got too far.

            “What is it?” Levi asked, demanding an answer.

            “He’s a lost soul,” Erwin replied in return, gaze fixed on Eren and looking down at him. “He’s escaped me twice, but he won’t do it again. I’ll make sure of that.”

            Eren was frozen behind Levi, his hold like steel.

            “No,” Levi said firmly, his dark eyes not leaving Erwin’s. “You are not going to touch this boy or I will make your life hell. You know what I am capable of.”

            At those words, there was a still, tense silence in between all of them. Erwin’s eyes were fixed on the cowering boy behind Levi whereas Levi’s gaze was burning Erwin’s face.

            Eren himself was biting his lips and avoiding everyone’s gaze, his neck and ears a little pink at the queasiness that flowed in his stomach. He had grown to know a lot about reapers from the ghosts, and it had helped him to learn more about himself.

            There was one thing that was for sure.

            Reapers didn’t just allow lost souls like him that had escaped death once to just escape again so easily.

            Eren wasn’t supposed to be alive, yet here he was, and in front of a reaper, too.

            Wow. This day was shit.

            Finally, the silence was broken by Erwin himself.

            “Fine,” he said, turning his gaze back down to Levi. “Just don’t have him appear in front of me again.” Turning his back to them, Erwin headed towards the stairs that led to his room. However, it was the sound of Levi’s voice that made him pause.

            “Tough deal,” Levi mocked, and his tone was steady. “He’ll be staying here from now on, so get used to his pretty face, Eyebrows.”

            At those words, Erwin’s face went completely blank, but then he stormed up the rest of the steps. All that Eren and Levi heard for a few seconds was the stomping of feet and then the slam of a door.

            There was a small silence after that little tantrum. But then—

            “Wow, what a kid.”

            Levi’s voice, and then, a few seconds later, Eren’s nervous responding snicker.

 

X

 

            Eren thought about missing school after everything that happened the previous day, but he found that he wanted to distract himself.

            Even after everything, Eren knew that the only thing that he had going for him was school. It was his only chance to do something with his life, even if he had no idea what that was. Recently, he had been looking at applying into universities that geared towards scriptwriting, since that was something that he enjoyed, but it was difficult to decide with his level of uncertainty when it came to everything in his future.

            It was in these thoughts that his friends found him as he walked towards Levi’s place.

            Armin had joined in with questions about the man that Eren had left home with, his questions somewhat curious but very analytical, as if he was piecing the pieces of a 3D puzzle together. There was a concentrated look on his face, steady and thoughtful as he studied the look on Eren’s face.

            But, surprisingly, it wasn’t those questions that stayed. It was Sasha’s sudden request that had them all stopping for a while.

            “What?” Eren looked back at Sasha and Connie as they strayed beside him. Connie wasn’t saying much, which was really strange for him. He only stood reassuringly by Sasha’s side as Armin stayed by Eren’s.

            Sasha’s own gaze was resolute and confident.

            “Since you’re my friend,” she repeated, “I need your help. I’ve finally find out what I need to move on, but I need you to help me.”

            Again, Eren was still a little caught off-guard. That, and a little shocked.

            Sasha had never mentioned anything like this before—of the possibility of not being a ghost anymore. Eren had also pushed aside the idea of any of his friends wanting to leave, especially since they had been together for so long. He had just always assumed that it would stay that way, for as long it could.

            However, this—

            Eren’s eyes met Connie’s.

            “Did you know about this?” he questioned, still a little dazed, as if he had just been punched on his gut.

            Connie nodded in response, not saying anything, but it was obvious that he wasn’t very happy, either. He was just a lot more accepting.

            Eren needed more time to think about it—to get used to the idea that one of his friends wanted to leave, but Sarah was impatient. She was biting her bottom lip and fidgeting on her feet, holding onto Eren’s sleeve.

            “Hurry, Eren,” she begged. “I’ve finally found him, so it has to be today. I need to get my revenge today so that I can move on.”

            “Revenge?” Eren moved away from her grasp, which had been very cold to begin with but felt even more so now. “What type of revenge, and why didn’t you tell me anything?”

            Eren met Armin’s eyes. “Did you know about this, too?” he asked, hurt. Eren received his answer as Armin tightened his lips, not replying.

            “You’re not a ghost, Eren,” Connie finally decided to reply in return. “You don’t know what it feels like…to be stuck in the middle of nowhere like this. We need your help because you’re the only one that can see us.”

            “You don’t even have to do much,” Sasha jumped in, a little eagerly. “All you have to do is pass on my message, okay? That’s all you have to do.”

            Eren stared her down for a while, but she didn’t cower. Her gaze was still as strong and energetic as he was used to.

            It still hurt a lot to be told so late, but he owed his friends a lot. The least he could do was give them a safe pathway home. Or wherever it is that spirits and souls traveled to.

            All three of them were looking at him expectantly, hopefully—they wanted Sasha to be happy, and Eren was her door there.

            And—

            “Okay,” Eren finally sighed out, “You’re my friend, so I owe you that much, right?”

            Sasha beamed, her smile wide as she reached forward to grab Eren’s hand.

            “You don’t even have to do a lot, okay? You will literally walk in and out of there.”

            Eren nodded as Sasha began to drag him in the opposite direction from Levi’s home. Connie and Armin followed silently behind.

            Eren must’ve been a sight then—being led by an invisible being with his arm in front of him—but he was used to it by then. Sasha had always been the one to drag him back and forth, especially if there was food involved. Even if she couldn’t eat it, she would still always stare at it with those hungry eyes. Connie, her comrade and partner-in-mischief, would always follow her in her escapades of curiosity. He was always there, supportive and as mischievous as her.

            It had always been Sasha who had led them around—bringing them back and forth with her whims.

            It was still the same now, but Eren didn’t like to think that it would be the last time.

            “Here, here,” Sasha excitedly smiled, pointing at a normal-looking home in front of them. The house was in the middle of a neighborhood, so Eren was at least a little reassured that he might be safe if anything happened. At Eren’s expression of dread, Armin threw Eren a look and a small, reassuring grin. Connie, however, had his eyes downcast, as if he didn’t want to be there.

            Pulling Eren forward, Sasha led him to the door, and then further signaled for him to knock. A little hesitantly, Eren lifted his fist and did just that.

            For a seconds, as his friends nervously waited around him, Eren thought that no one would answer, but, soon enough, a man opened the door—a man with brown locks and a conceited look on his features.

            At his appearance, Sasha became rigid beside Eren, and Connie softly placed one of his hands on her shoulder.

            “May I help you?” the man asked, looking down at Eren with his nose held high.

            “Tell him that you have to talk to him,” Sasha said, her gaze suddenly very strong. “Tell him that you knew me.”

            Sparing Sasha a small glance, Eren looked back at the man, his own eyes resolute.

            “I need to talk to you,” Eren repeated, “I—I knew Sasha.”

            At those words, the man froze, that contemptuous look fading rather quickly. He began to look a little flustered, but his manner became polite yet somewhat defensive.

            “Sure,” the man drawled, a little uncertain, but he didn’t close the door.

            “Tell him to let you inside,” Sasha ordered, her eyes moving from the man to stare at Eren. Her eyes didn’t leave his face.

            “Is it alright if I go inside?” Eren asked, his hands becoming a little sweaty as he ran his hands through his hair. “I have a lot to tell you.”

            The man pondered on it for a few seconds, but, maybe deciding that it wouldn’t do any harm, he nodded his head, opening the door enough so that Eren could walk in.

            Armin and Connie followed close behind.

            Closing the door, the man led Eren to his kitchen, where he then signaled Eren to take a seat. Eren did so a little nervously, fidgeting in his seat.

            Walking behind the counter, the man crossed his arms in front of him and stared at Eren for a little. Eren, in turn, coughed in his throat a little nervously. He was already sweating under his clothes, and his backpack was digging into his shoulders.

            “So?” the man inquired. “What do you have to say?”

            A little uncomfortable, Eren looked at Sasha. She was looking straight at the man, her expression unreadable.

            “Tell him that you know about me and him,” she said.

            A little confused, Eren looked back at the man, who was starting to look impatient.

            “I knew about you and Sasha,” Eren replied. His words were a little hesitant.

            “Tell him that you knew I was dating him,” Sasha revealed, a little strongly.

            At his side, Armin was starting to become a little nervous, his feet suddenly becoming rigid as he stared at Sasha.

            “I know that you dated her,” Eren said, his own eyes not leaving the man’s.

            “‘I know that she was with you the night she died.’ Tell him that, Eren,” Sasha ordered. “Tell him.”

            From where he was, Eren’s eyes were a little wide, his hands sweating on his lap. His voice was a little hesitant.

            “I know that she was with you the night she died,” Eren repeated, and he coughed a bit as his throat went dry. For some reason, under the man’s gaze, his heart was starting to accelerate…and not in a good way, either.

            However, Eren didn’t have much time to think about it because, at those last words, the man in front of him froze all over, his eyes widening in shock.

            Suddenly, his movements were very calculating, and he was leaning over the counter as his arms uncrossed. Eren saw as one of his arms moved underneath the counter, as if he were searching for something.

            “How do you know that?” the man asked, but his voice strangely calm.

            Eren cleared his throat again. Something about this situation wasn’t right, but all that he had to do was talk, right?

            During the talk, Armin had moved close enough to Eren—enough to be able to touch his shoulders. One of his hands had reached to Eren’s wrist, and Eren had glanced at him for a second before looking back in front of him.

            “‘Sasha told me about the money she hid,’” Eren repeated again, after Sasha had spoken. “‘She knew that you wanted it, so she hid it. Now you’ll never find it again.’”

            The more Eren spoke, the more the man in front of him became more fidgety, his eyes locking on the door they had crossed through just a few moments ago.

            “Tell him, Eren—tell him that you know that he killed me,” Sasha’s voice was final, and her eyes were cold.

            A little distracted, the words didn’t sink in until Eren said them himself.

            “I know that it was you who killed—”

            With those words, Eren’s eyes widened, his face paling. As his gaze lifted from the ground and towards those eyes again, Eren realized that he was in trouble.

            Sasha was murdered?

            Suddenly, Armin’s voice was frantic.

            “Eren,” he cried, “Eren, you need to get out of here right now.”

            “Did you come here alone, little boy?” The man in front of him had suddenly jumped over the counter. Eren, in his shock, had stumbled over the stool he had been sitting on, dropping it with an extremely loud clash. His posture had become defensive as he held his hands in front of him, but he knew that would do nothing, especially since he had no real defense at all.

            The man had a knife in his hands, and he held it expertly in front of him, tilting his head to look at Eren with a smirk on his face.

            “Do your parents know that you’re here?” the man laughed, blocking Eren’s exit towards the door.

            And fuck. Eren had never felt so fucked in his life.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Eren**

 

            Eren’s feet stumbled over the tiled floor, his fingers shaking as he attempted to grab something—anything—that he could use to defend himself.

            At one point, he thought of running, but, between him and freedom, there was a very psychotic man—a man holding a knife that he was definitely not afraid to use.

            His friends weren’t being much help, either. Armin’s previous feat had been an accident—an accident that Eren had been grateful at the time for, but now he really wished would reappear. Sasha herself was just staring at the scene with scared, wide eyes. A guilty light appeared in the way she held herself, holding her hands clasped together in front of her. Connie was panicked, if the frantic way in which he went back and forth between Eren and the man was any indicator.

            Sasha’s ex was currently very busy slowly approaching him, his smile causing the hairs on Eren’s arms to raise uncomfortably. Eren’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest, and he felt a little out of breath as he ran to the counter, trying to at least put a barrier between him and the crazy man.

            Eren vowed that, if he ever got out of this one, he would be the one to kill Sasha himself.

            Not losing sight of him, Sasha’s murderer raced forward, his face losing that mocking smile, replaced instead with a wild look, one that was doing nothing to calm Eren’s nerves.

            Fuck. He was so fucked.

            “Playing catch? I don’t have the patience for that.”

            With those words, the man lifted himself onto the counter, looking down at a cowering Eren—a cowering Eren that had suddenly thought of leaning on the corner of the sink behind him. It was in last-minute thought that he had grabbed a pan and held it in front of himself, to at least use it at cover.

            The man, deciding that he was done playing games, lunged forwards, intently pointing the knife towards Eren’s chest.

            In those split seconds, Eren didn’t really have much time to think.

            It was mostly him and those crazed eyes…and the knife pointing straight at him.

            Eren remembered that his breath stopped—almost as if in anticipation for his last—and then the world became distorted.

            No, not because he had been stabbed.

            But because there was suddenly a figure in front of him. A figure in a dark coat, standing imposingly as the man approached. Time went by fast in those last seconds, but it was suddenly Levi twisting the man’s arm, knocking the knife out of his hands. Within split moments, Levi had the man’s arm behind his back as he held him to the floor.

            Eren had to blink more than twice to wrap the situation in his head, but it was difficult. Especially because he was so sure that he had been about to die.

            But now Levi was here and had ruined all of those expectations.

            A Levi that was now staring Eren down with a glare.

            “What the fuck, you idiot?” Levi growled, and now Eren felt a chill down his back but for a completely different reason. “Why the fuck do I turn by back on you for a few hours and you almost get yourself killed?”

            Feeling a lot like a scolded child, Eren scratched the back of his head, releasing a small grin.

            “…Sorry?” he muttered, sheepish. He didn’t know what to with his hands.  

            The man under Levi groaned.

 

X

 

**Levi**

 

            “You are going to admit to your crimes, do you understand?”

            Levi shoved the man a little to emphasize his point.

            “If you don’t, I’ll be sure to come back for you,” Levi growled in his ear before finally pushing him forwards and towards the police station, the man stumbling to pick himself up before running inside full force.

            After all, it’s not every day that a random man appears out of thin air to stop you from murdering someone and then beats you raw.

            After finally making sure that the man was in the station and confessing, Levi looked back at Eren, who was very neatly avoiding his eyes and looking at his feet. By his side, his friends didn’t say much. Armin, the friend that Levi had met before, seemed a little more upset than he let out, especially by the way he glared at the only girl in the group, who was just as busy ignoring everyone and avoiding their eyes.

            Even if Levi had to take a guess, Levi knew that the main culprit behind this mess was her.

            Placing his hands at his waist, Levi stood a little taller, shooting the group a look.

            “Who was it?” he asked, already knowing the answer. It hadn’t taken him long to look into the past and the future of the man that had murdered Sasha, but it had taken him even less to look into the past of the ghosts in front of him.

            He just needed to have them admit to it. Then he could build trust.

            Eren looked up to throw him wide puppy eyes, and Levi glared in response.

            Lately, Levi felt that was all he did. He felt like he was scolding a child.

            Who, in all of their stupidity and naivety, would feel that it’d be right to come up to a murderer and tell them that they knew they had killed someone?? Who would do it alone??? Only an idiot would, that’s who.

            Even though Eren had brought his ghosts friends with him, it wasn’t much help at all. Ghosts didn’t count. Unless they were extremely powerful, they only had spurts of power that they could use for a certain time. There was little they could do. Much less protect anyone from getting murdered.

            It also looked like his so-called friends weren’t about to take a bite from the bullet in front of them anytime soon. That’s if you didn’t count his coconut-haired friend, who had been steadily inching closer to Eren to hold onto his sleeve. Levi noticed, with a raised brow, that the ghost was able to touch the sleeve of Eren’s shirt without his fingers going through.

            Maybe Eren had an affinity towards ghosts that allowed them to touch him?

            Or was it just this particular ghost that had a talent for touching physical things?

            Levi didn’t think so. Something as simple as touching someone’s sleeve required extreme power, something that Levi knew that the ghost didn’t have.

            “Eren,” the ghost whispered, in an attempt to catch Eren’s attention.

            Eren, in retaliation, looked down at him with a questioning gaze.

            “I’m really sorry,” Armin revealed, his blue eyes wide in guilt. “I didn’t know that Sasha wanted to take you for that reason. If I had known, I wouldn’t have allowed—”

            “Armin, hey,” Eren reached down to cup the ghost’s face in his hands, and Levi’s eyes widened in shock. “It’s fine. It’s not your fault, okay?”

            Armin’s lips tightened a little, but he nodded. However, as soon as Eren let go, he threw the girl ghost a glare so angry that she flinched.

            Levi was still staring at the easy way in which Eren’s fingers leaned on Armin’s skin, as easily as if the ghost were actually alive. Could he touch all ghosts in that way? And could all ghosts touch him as easily as well?

            Sasha finally had the courage to step forward and into Levi’s line of gaze.

            Eren, a little wary, watched as she did so. Her lips quivered as if she was about to cry.

            “I just wanted Eren to talk to him,” Sasha murmured. “I didn’t think that anything would actually happen. I’m really sorry.”

            Levi frowned, his arms crossing in front of his chest.

            “I’m not the one you’re supposed to be apologizing to, am I?”

            Flinching underneath Levi’s sharp gaze, Sasha turned back to face Eren, her face glistening with tears.

            “Eren,” she sobbed, “I’m really sorry. I just wanted him to feel bad about what he did. I’m really sorry.”

            Eren didn’t say anything for a while, just stared as she covered her face and wept, her cries a bit muffled but still loud in the cold of the night.

            A little hesitant but unafraid in his manner, Eren leaned forward to place his hand on Sasha’s shoulder, squeezing a little.

            “I’m a little mad, and I prefer that you hadn’t lied to me,” Eren bit his bottom lip, looking into Sasha’s watery eyes. “Next time don’t be afraid to tell me if something is bothering you, okay? Let’s talk through it. I’ll try to help you as much as I can.”

            Sasha nodded then jumped forward to hug him, squeezing him tightly enough that Eren released a gush of air.

            “Thank you, and I’m really sorry,” Sasha murmured when she finally released him. She smiled at him and then looked back towards the police station, where the man that had murdered her was now being handcuffed and being led to one of the inner rooms.

            “I kind of wish he were dead,” she revealed. Even though her voice was unwavering, her eyes held a world of pain. Connie, who had come to her side, softly held onto her hand, giving her a reassuring look.

            Sasha looked back at Eren.

            “I was selfish in wanting to get rid of him that I didn’t think of you. I just wanted to hurt him and let him know that he should regret what he did.”

            Levi steadily studied the group, noticing when Eren softly spoke in response. Armin was still defensively standing by his side. He let them talk, knowing that they needed the time. Walking out of ways to distract himself a little, Levi gave them some space.

            It was a while before the ghosts departed, and, by then, Levi was softly blowing on his hands, his nose a little red in response to the cold. Eren approached him, his hands in his pockets and goosebumps raised on his arms.

            Eren gave him a small grin, speeding up a little and jumping to release a bit of the cold.

            “Done talking, brat?” Levi asked, his face showing a bit of discontent as Eren walked a little before him.

            “Yeah,” Eren released, his words a small puff of air. “Armin is still a little upset, so he left to talk to Sasha and Connie alone.”

            Levi hummed in response as they walked forward, in the direction of Levi’s home.

            They walked in a little comfortable silence for a few minutes, but it was finally Eren that broke it.

            “Hey, Levi…I just want to thank you...for saving my life.” He was a little out of breath and rosy-cheeked, his eyes still incredibly vibrant in the light of the moon and the streetlights above them.

            Eren stopped for a little to gaze into Levi’s eyes earnestly. His stare was bright and honest, and Levi found himself staring a little in surprise at the intensity of his gaze.

            “Yeah, yeah,” Levi mumbled in response, feeling his cheeks reddening as he glared away. “Just keep walking. It’s cold as fucking balls out here.”

            Eren chuckled, a laugh that made a small knot in Levi’s stomach form and tug.

            A little stunned by the sudden feelings of vulnerability, Levi walked a little faster. It made him upset to feel this way. It made a gush of anger burst in his chest because he knew that this was the gods playing with him, making him vulnerable to a brat with teal-colored eyes. It frustrated him to no end, knowing that he couldn’t really have these emotions. Not unless the person he was interested in was his bride. Yet, even then, he wouldn’t even allow himself even that.

            He couldn’t get close to the person that would end him. That would be better for both of them.

            Eren, a little in surprise that Levi was walking so fast, scurried to catch up. He noticed the change in mood almost instantly, his smile fading the more they walked. The rest of the silence was uncomfortable, unbearingly so to Eren, who kept fidgeting by Levi’s side.

            It annoyed him.

            Eren was still so young. It showed all of the time.

            Levi was getting attached, and he hated it.

            Eren was still fidgeting by the time they arrived at Levi’s home. Levi didn’t hesitate to open the door, so impatient in his endeavor that he almost hit Eren on the nose.

            In his hurry to get away, Levi almost slipped on one of his steps to the living room.

            “Hey,” Eren stopped him, a little uncertain. “Are you alright?”

            Levi huffed. “I’m just peachy,” he sneered, shaking his coat down his shoulders.

            Eren softly fiddled with his fingers, staring as Levi struggled to hold himself together.

            Fuck, why did he look cute even like this? His lively eyes were a little nervous, and the way in which he held himself was so unsure, as if he was stepping on eggshells around Levi. At that thought, Levi huffed to himself. The kid was probably right.

            “Would you like some tea or something?” Eren offered, straightening a little to listen to Levi’s response.

            Levi didn’t know where the bite came from, but, when the words came out, it caught him by surprise.

            “Fuck off,” Levi snarled.

            He was taking it out on him. That much he knew.

            Suddenly, it was like Eren’s entire body was charged with a ball of anger, and his brows furrowed in distaste.

            “What the hell slipped into your cereal, you asshole?” Eren shouted, his hands curled into tight fists.

            Levi was aware of how immature he was being, but, for some reason, years and years of suppressed emotions were suddenly rising. He couldn’t control them. He hadn’t been this way. Not once. But now. For some reason, he felt like he had to release a few of them.

            “You did, asswipe,” Levi snarked back, his lip curling in anger. “What kind of idiot are you? You keep inconveniencing me to the point where I’m tired of your idiot ass.”

            At those words, Eren stiffened. His lips were closed tightly, and his eyes were defiant.

            Levi was so sure that he would say something in retaliation but was even more surprised when he didn’t, shoving past Levi to stomp up the stairs towards his room.

            A little let down by the lack of screaming, Levi had a few seconds of time to think about how immature he was being before the loud thumps started. Caught off guard, Levi walked up the stairs and towards Eren’s room, where he found the boy loudly shoving things into his backpack.

            “What the fuck are you doing?” Levi asked, genuinely confused.

            “Getting the fuck out of here,” Eren retaliated, his whole body shaking in anger. “If you didn’t want me here, then you should’ve just told me.”

            “What?” Levi was stumped.

            “I’m inconveniencing you, aren’t I?” Eren hissed, zipping up his backpack as he finished. He didn’t have a lot of things to begin with, so it hadn’t taken him long to get his things together.

            Levi was very confused with this development.

            Eren stood up and put his backpack over his shoulders once again.

            Both Levi and Eren missed a blonde head poking out of its room across the hall to look at the two loud figures arguing in Eren’s room.

            “Fuck, Eren,” Levi said exasperatedly, rubbing his hands over his face. His emotions were clashing in on him, but now he was feeling a little more level-headed. He should’ve known that Eren was feeling bad about staying with him.

            “That’s not what I meant, okay?” Levi held his hands in front of him in what he thought was a calming gesture. Eren was angry, and, although Levi was used to angry Eren, he was not used to feeling so out of his element.

            “What did you mean then?” Eren responded back, his eyes flashing. He was ready to leave, if the way in which his feet impatiently tapped on the ground was any indicator.

            Levi touched the space in between the middle of his eyes to help him lower a little of his flaming emotions. It wouldn’t do him good to release everything on a mortal.

            Eren was impatient, and Levi knew it.

            Levi finally glanced up and met Eren’s intense gaze.

            “I’m sorry alright?” Levi finally sighed. “I know that you’re going through a lot right now. I’ve just been very stressed, okay? I’m very sorry, and I know that’s no excuse. I didn’t mean to take it out on you, but, if you didn’t really already know….I’m not very good with…human interaction.”

            Eren was still a little upset, but the way in which he bit his lip was uncertain.

            He looked regretful, but Levi didn’t want him to feel guilty. The one with the problem had been him.

            “You can stay here, brat,” Levi sighed, a little remorseful for making a big deal out of nothing. “I’m not going to kick you out. Especially since I know that there’s nowhere for you to go.”

            Eren looked a lot calmer now, his emotions mirroring Levi’s. He gave one nod in response to Levi’s words.

            A little unconsciously, Eren let down his backpack, and Levi released relieved sigh. That was something that surprised him because he didn’t know that the idea of the little shit leaving would upset him so much.

            The blonde head across the hall closed the door at the lack of drama.

            Eren sat on his bed, trying to capture a semblance of control in the awkwardness surrounding the air around them both.

            Who knew that Levi was a complete softie?

            To clear the air, Levi coughed to clear his throat.

            “You can touch ghosts,” he said, and he saw as Eren raised an eyebrow at his choice of conversation-starter.

            “Yeah,” Eren said, his bright eyes straying on Levi’s face. “I’ve been able to do that since I was a kid. It used to scare my grandma all the time to see me fall around for no reason.”

            He paused, as if he were thinking about a time long past.

            “I didn’t have that before, though. I wasn’t able to touch any ghosts until a few years after my mom died.”

            Eren had a faraway look in his eyes for a little. Just enough for Levi to admire his sharp jawline and his prominent cheek bones.

            Levi could see a little of Eren’s past—a woman with Eren’s eyes holding a small pink and white candle, a small smile on her features. Eren himself was smiling sadly in this moment. His smile was small, but his demeanor was relaxed. He was living in memories.

            But then that look was gone, and those eyes were back on Levi.

            “I’m not the only special one here,” Eren smirked. “How did you know that I was in danger?”

            To that, Levi had no clear answer. Just the memories of pain and impatience that had plagued him to the point of being unbearable.

            The feeling that something wasn’t right and that Eren was the cause for it.

            “Just a feeling,” Levi said, holding a small smile of his own.

            Levi didn’t know the reason why Eren stared at him like that. As if he knew a few secrets of his own, and he knew that Levi was holding things back from him. Eren’s face was blank yet questioning, but, when he finally spoke, it wasn’t with a question but with a statement.

            “I know what you are,” Eren finally commented. Levi was a bit amused.

            Not a lot of people could say that they knew what he was.

            “Sure you do,” Levi agreed jokingly, sure that Eren was fibbing. That, or he had a completely opposite idea of what he was.

            Eren didn’t seem bothered by Levi’s assuredness of his naivety.

            “I thought that you were a ghost at first,” Eren announced, “but I knew that couldn’t be it. People can see you.”

            Levi was still smiling, but he had his arms crossed in front of him again.

            “And then I thought you were a grim reaper, but you weren’t after me… At least, not directly.”

            At those words, Levi’s smile was quickly fading, replacing itself with a blank expression.

            “You’re a Goblin,” Eren said.

            Levi was very still,

            For a few seconds, there was silence between them, but Eren’s gaze was calm on Levi.

            “What the fuck are you?” Levi finally asked. A little alarm slipped into his voice.

            “I’m your bride,” Eren retaliated, and Levi was so shocked that he slipped a little from where he had been leaning on the doorway.

            “How the fuck—”

            Interrupting him before he got any further, Eren turned a little so that Levi could see a black mark on his neck, shaped like a small cherry blossom.

            “Ever since I was a kid, the ghosts keep calling me the Goblin’s Bride, and I think that it’s because of this.”

            Levi leaned forward a little so that he could take a good look at the mark. It was the color of smoke, and, the more he stared at it, the more his memories began to curl, as if he was close to remembering something. A night long ago. A night where his happiness became vibrant, blossoming cherry blossoms in the middle of snowing winter.

            Eren straightened, and Levi did as well, his eyes a little wide.

            “Before I met you, it used to hurt all of the time, but now it’s settled. I think that the reason why you are able to feel me when I’m in danger….is because of this mark.”

            Levi was still in turmoil as he attempted to put everything that he was getting told together.

            But still, the fear remained. The fear of this being a lie.

            Levi reached forward, and Eren tilted his head a little curiously as Levi lightly touched the mark. It was a little lifted, the skin there a little scarred.

            Levi didn’t say one word. He just stared at Eren with sudden detachment. If he was telling the truth, then….

            But were the Gods really so merciful?

            Were they finally allowing him the freedom to end all of his years of torment and of death?

            “Tell me what you see then,” Levi ordered. “If you’re really my bride, then you’re the only one that can see it.”

            Eren stared at Levi for a few seconds, but when his gaze began to lower, down to his chest, Levi’s heart accelerated. His palms started to sweat, and he had difficulty breathing.

            And when a thin finger raised—to point straight at his chest—Levi knew that the world was suddenly aligning in place.

            “Right there,” Eren said. His eyes were darker, and flecks of gold decorated his pupils.

            “There’s a sword going right through your chest.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Eren**

 

            Eren had a lot to think about.

            Leaning his chin calmly over the top of his broom, his manner was languid as his eyes flitted over to the owner of the shop.

            Mikasa, fingers long and elegant over the handle of her cup, took a small sip from her coffee as her manicured nails swept through her phone notifications.

            Currently, there was no one else in the shop. Eren found that it was a rare occurrence, but the weather had been cold recently, and most of their crowd were college students just a little older than him. Over the past few days, it had been cold and rainy, and the atmosphere was as miserable in Levi’s home as it was outside, something that irked Eren a little too much.

            After Eren had admitted to Levi who he was (or who everyone else said he was), Levi had taken on a very strange temper.

            He would mope one day, not coming out of his room at all—to the point where even Erwin, the strange grim reaper that lived almost next door to Eren’s room, asked him if anything was going on.

            The thing is—Eren didn’t know what was going on himself.

            Sometimes, Eren would feel like he was being stared at, and he would look up to meet Levi’s grey-blue eyes. The look in them was strange. As if he was seeing Eren, yes, but as if he were seeing beyond him, something that frustrated Eren to no end.

            What did Eren mean to him? If he meant anything at all?

            But maybe those weren’t the right questions to ask.

            Maybe the right question to ask was what the Goblin’s Bride meant to him.

            Why did Levi look at him as if he had the key to his world?

            Why would he look at him and not say anything at all?

            Shaking his head in annoyance, Eren went back to his task of staring at Mikasa for a little more before he went back to the counter, where he started to count the stock of food.

            Currently, he was Mikasa’s only employee. She seemed pretty satisfied with his help, so she hadn’t tried to contract anyone else. Over the past few weeks, they had also gotten kind of close, something that Eren had never thought possible with a live human being. The thing about Mikasa, though, is that she had the knack to not show any expressions on her face. This particular trait of hers reminded him a lot of Levi, to the point where he had wondered if they were related multiple times.

            “You’re thinking a lot today, aren’t you?”

            At the sound of her voice, Eren looked up to meet Mikasa’s dark eyes.

            She tilted her head to look at him, throwing him a small smile as her eyelashes created small shadows over her cheekbones.

            If he didn’t know any better, Eren would really think those two were related, especially with the way her dark hair softly settled over her forehead.

            Eren laughed a little in response, embarrassment visible as his fingers scratched the back of his neck. His friends had always told him how obvious he was in showing his emotions, but he didn’t think that even his thoughtful moments were so plain.

            “I’ve…had a lot in my mind,” Eren answered, a little sheepish. “I’m sorry if I’m a little off today. I’ll try to hold it down a bit.”

            Mikasa set down her phone and took a sip of her coffee again.

            “No, it’s fine,” she stated, placing down her cup. “I’m just not used to it. Is everything okay?”

            Eren grimaced a little, but he nodded.

            “I’ve just been a little frustrated,” he admitted. “One of my friends has been a little…he’s been kind of avoiding me.”

            Now that he put it into words, Eren realized that’s exactly what Levi was doing.

            “He’s…He’s helped me a lot….gave me shelter, and listened to me…I owe him a lot.”

            Eren was silent for a little. But then.

            “I owe him a lot, but, for some reason, the more I get to know him, the more I feel that I’m pushing my expectations on him…I feel that I want to find my purpose, and that he’s a large part of that.”

            As Eren spoke, his thoughts began to settle. Began to fall into place.

            What was he expecting from Levi after what he told him?

            What was he expecting from himself?

            And that’s when he realized that he wanted to find his own purpose. And now Levi was giving him one.

            Eren had lost everything, and now Levi was his hope.

            He could be his key to happiness, whatever that really was.

            “The thing is—I told him something about me a few days ago—something that is affecting him, too. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but now…” Eren’s look was definitely a little sheepish now. He grimaced.

            “Now he’s kind of avoiding me, but, when he does see me, it’s like…like he’s looking at someone else…at _something_ else…

            “I don’t know how to deal with it.”

            Leaning into her hand a little while he spoke, Mikasa fixed Eren with a deep look. It was as if she were looking into him, as if she knew more than she let on, but she didn’t say anything. It was a strange look, but Eren had gotten used to it after working for her these past weeks.

            Eren grabbed one of the cleaning rags from underneath the counter, washing it so that he could clean the counter, feeling as if he might have said too much.

            “Eren, did I ever tell you about my brother?”

            A little confused by the sudden question, Eren stilled before continuing his previous endeavor. He shook his head in response.

            “No, I don’t think so,” he said.

            Mikasa hummed in response, softly clicking her nails on the cup.

            Tick. Tick. Tick.

            And stop.

            “He died years ago,” she revealed. Although the tone of her voice was blank, the tips of her fingers trembled.

            A little caught off guard, Eren looked back at her, his lips a little apart.

            “He was a little like you—stubborn, strong—focused…but he liked to hide a lot of things.”

            Mikasa adjusted her cardigan around her shoulders.

            “I know that you might think it’s strange for me to bring him up. The reason I bring him up now is because I learned a lot from him as I was growing up, and one of the most important things was to communicate.”

            Mikasa’s dark eyes met Eren’s.

            “If you want to know what he’s really thinking, ask him. Avoiding the matter could only make things worse.”

            Her hold over her cup tightened visibly.

            “You never know,” she laughed, although her laugh was forced and a little bitter. “You might never have the chance to ask them ever again.”

 

X

 

**Levi**

            Levi was preparing himself to die.

            It was just taking him some time to come to terms with it.

            Maybe it’s because he was suddenly so close to death that things seemed so different to him.

            The flowers over the table that Auruo had placed there about a week ago.

            They were wilting now, but they had been kept alive quite a while. They had looked so pretty at first, but now their leaves were a bruising purple. Maybe it had been a little morbid on his part, but Levi had told Auruo to not throw them away.

            He wanted to see how long they would last.

            Just a few more days, he kept telling himself.

            Just one more week.

            Levi noticed more things.

            Beautiful things that he had taken for granted before.

            Words.

            Words were beautiful things.

            Landscapes. Nature.

            The fall was beautiful. The rain (his pain) was beautiful, too.

            Because it made him feel alive.

            Ah, he thought. So I’ve been alive.

            I’ve been feeling.

            It was a strange thing.

            Life was.

            Life was his curse, but now that he had the chance to dispel that curse, Levi didn’t know what to do. Was he ready to give it all up? He had been in pain for a long time. He deserved to rest. 300 years was too much. He wanted to forget.

            And the boy with green eyes was his key.

            The more that he thought about it, the more that Levi realized that Eren was his only chance. Eren was his only chance to end it all, and the best thing to do was end it soon.

            He had waited centuries for now. He would have traded everything he had for something like this years ago.

            But why was it that, now that it was here, he was doubting himself?

            It was in these thoughts that Levi buried himself, drinking away in alcohol. At one point, Erwin had gone into the kitchen for food, had caught a look at Levi and then shook his head.

            Levi knew what he looked like, but he didn’t care.

            He had to prepare. Had to prepare soon.

            Just not yet.

            _Just a few more days_ , he promised. _Just give me a few more days._

 

X

 

**Eren**

 

            Eren found Levi slumped on the kitchen bar when he got home, three bottles of expensive liquor by his side. In his hands, a half-empty cup rested on the counter.

            Putting down his bags, Eren approached a little warily. In his frown, there was a bit of concern.

            “Hey…Levi, are you okay?” Eren softly shook Levi’s shoulder.

            What if Levi had alcohol poisoning? Could Goblins have alcohol poisoning as well?

            That worried Eren a little more than it should have, and he shook Levi’s shoulder a little harder.

            A sleepy groan came from the slumped man, and Eren breathed a sigh of relief.

            Droopy eyelids looked in his direction, gray-blue eyes piercing his own.

            Maybe it was the way the light fell on that pale skin—or the way in which those dark strands lightly leaned on Levi’s forehead—but Eren felt himself blush, right up to his ears. Levi looked so vulnerable, and Eren didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not.

            He couldn’t help the disgusting thought about what that meant for him.

            Had he been the one to make Levi like this?

            Eren coughed, clearing his throat in a sudden bout of nervousness.

            “You smell like crap, old man. How much did you drink?”

            Eren held up one of the empty bottles of liquor, his eyes almost popping out at the alcohol percentage.

            “Holy crap,” Eren grimaced, placing it back down. “How the fuck are you still alive?”

            Levi buried his face back into his arms. He let out another groan.

            Eren was caught off guard once he started talking.

            “I’m not,” Levi said in a tone of voice that sounded way too much like a wail. “I’m not alive.”

            It was so eerie to hear cold, nonchalant Levi sound like this that Eren had to take a few seconds to have it sink in. Once it did, Eren took a seat on the bar stool next to Levi, leaning a little into Levi’s space.

            So this was the type of drunk that Levi was.

            He was the sad type.

            Eren hated to be the one to take advantage of this, but…when would he have the chance to do this again? The normal Levi wouldn’t say anything. Maybe this one could help?

            “Levi, are you okay?”

            Eren placed his hand on Levi’s back, softly rubbing small circles. Underneath his touch, Levi was relaxed. He let out another groan, but this one was a little less stressed.

            “No,” Levi admitted. “I’m not okay, and it’s your fault.”

            Eren didn’t cease his little massage, even while he let out a small hum.

            “What did I do?” he asked innocently. “You’ve been the one avoiding me.”

            For a few seconds, there was a small silence between them. It was just Eren’s soft, reassuring touch on his back, soothing ages of stress and discomfort.

            “You’re my bride,” Levi finally breathed out. “You’re my bride, but I really wish you weren’t.”

            Eren ceased his ministrations, the frown on his expression obvious.

            He sat back down, the look in his green eyes confused.

            “Why?”

            Why was he suddenly feeling so upset?

            Levi fixed Eren with those dark eyes again. They weren’t overbearing, weren’t hateful. There was just honesty. A whole lot of it.

            “You just weren’t what I thought you’d be,” he said.

            For a moment, all that Eren did was stare. The emotions in his chest—they were a mixture of things—confusion, anger, irked pride—

            “Well,” Eren huffed, “I’m sorry for disappointing you.”

            He stood up to leave, but a quick grasp of a hand ceased his movements.

            In surprise, Eren met Levi’s eyes again. They were clear. Steady.

            “That’s not it, you brat,” Levi tched.

            Without leaving his eyes, Levi held onto his hands. Maybe it was the heat in the room, but Eren’s cheeks began to blush against his tan skin.

            “Do you know what being a Goblin’s bride means, Eren?”

            Levi’s voice was serious, so Eren chose to be serious in return.

            A little sheepishly, Eren shook his head.

            “No,” he admitted. “I just have to marry you, right?”

            Levi’s widened a little in shock, but then he outright laughed, letting go of Eren’s hand. Eren was flushed, watching the scene in front of him unfold a little in awe because he had never once seen Levi laugh like that.

            Had he guessed wrong?

            After his outburst, Levi kept a small smile on his face for a few seconds, but the look on his face started to turn distant. He held his glass of alcohol in his hand, softly swirling it before he took a sip.

            “You’re so young, Eren,” Levi stated, looking at the bar in front of him. “You’re so young and naïve.”

            Before Eren could get angry and retaliate, Levi leant on the palm of his hand, pointing to his chest, where the sword lay embedded.

            “I’m under a spell, Eren.” A smirk decorated the corner of his lips. “I’m under a spell, and I need you to set me free.”

            Eren remembered the first time he saw the sword when he met him. Not wanting to offend a probable malicious spirit, he hadn’t wanted to mention it. But, the more that he met Levi—the more that he became acquainted—the more that he realized that maybe the whispers of the ghosts around him weren’t as unfounded as he thought.

            The ghosts were scared of Levi. Eren wasn’t stupid. He knew that he didn’t know enough about Levi to gauge what kind of person he really was, but, the more that he fell in front of him, Eren realized that Levi was hiding his full powers in front of him.

            “What spell?” Eren asked, his eyes wide and his voice a little choked.

            Levi maintained his silence for a while…for enough time that Eren got a little impatient.

            “It’s a secret,” Levi stated instead, his smile a little sad. “Just know that if you take this sword out of my chest, I’ll be free.”

            Eren was on the edge of his seat, curious, as he stared at the sword in front of him.

            “Can’t you take it out yourself?” Eren asked, a little intrigued. “Does it have to be me?”

            “I can take it out,” Levi chucked. “It’s only for special moments, however.”

            Levi’s eyes were dark, as if he were hiding a secret. His smirk was still present.

            “Only you can make it permanent.”

            Eren thought about it a lot. At least what he had just been told. He ruminated for a few seconds.

            “Is it uncomfortable?” Eren asked, staring at the sword. It definitely did look uncomfortable. Maybe that’s why Levi wanted it out.

            As if he had never thought about it before, Levi looked down at the sword on his chest.

            “I’ve gotten used to it,” he said. “It becomes nothing after a few centuries.”

            At those last words, Eren’s mouth fell open.

            “C-centuries?” he stuttered, shocked. “Shit—how old are you?”

            Eren had never even thought about that factor. Levi looked so young—latest early twenties—what the hell?

            At the stupid look on Eren’s face, Levi chuckled again.

            “Old enough to be your ancestor a few times over,” he laughed. With one last shrug, Levi drank the rest of his glass, slamming it down and watching in amusement as Eren jumped in his seat.

            Embarrassed that Levi had seen him startled, Eren coughed, and his cheeks reddened. He avoided his eyes for a bit, only to look back a few seconds later. His eyes were so pretty to Levi—a combination of greenish hues—dark and light—and, in the light, there were some golden hues. Little hidden treasures. Even in his drunken stupor, Levi could see them.

            “Well,” Eren coughed, his cheeks still red underneath Levi’s gaze. His eyes shied away.

            “Then…don’t you want me to take out the sword right now? I can do that.”

            At those words, Levi found himself stiffening in a panic. He attempted to play it down a little by laughing.

            “No, not yet,” Levi laughed, forced. “I don’t want to do it just yet…Give me a few days, okay?”

            Eren was confused, and very obviously so. Yet, surprisingly, he didn’t throw out any complaints.

            “Okay,” he agreed. “In a few days then.”

 

X

 

            “Today?”

            “No, give me three days.”

 

X

 

            “Hey, Levi, it’s been three days.”

            “Yeah?”

            “So…today?”

            “No, not today. Give me a week.”

 

X

 

**Levi**

 

            Levi had no idea what he was waiting for.

            Just a few more days. He had to be resolute. He needed to be strict to himself. He just needed to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

            He had waited for over three hundred years for this. He could do it.

            He could do it.

            At three in the morning, he was still not able to sleep. He was tired. His body was tired, but he couldn’t. The time was ticking. What was time in reality? What was time when it could become nothing within a few seconds?

            “Couldn’t sleep?”

            Shaken out of his stupor, Levi looked up to see Erwin opening the refrigerator and taking out a bottle of water. Erwin was in his pajamas, as Levi so eloquently liked to put it. Silky black pajamas.

            “Sleepwear,” Erwin had said sternly, unfazed. “They are sleepwear. Not pajamas.”

            They were pajamas, and now Levi was staring. His thought process lately had been a lot of reminiscing. A lot of remembering. As if his brain were trying to count the moments that mattered. The little moments, surprisingly, were the ones that Levi remembered the most.

            “Yeah, can’t sleep.”

            Throughout the past weeks, getting used to Erwin had taken some time, but now they spoke well to each other. It was the little things that had started to matter. One of them would do one thing for the other and the other would follow.

            You wash the dishes? Fine. I’ll wash the clothes.

            You hang the clothes? Fine. I’ll sweep the floor.

            You need a bottle of water? Sure, I’ll leave it on the table for you to get it later.

            After Erwin had found out who Eren was to Levi, he had become, surprisingly, a lot more understanding.

            The boy I wanted to get rid of? Oh, that’s the guy that’s going to kill you… Sucks.

            Erwin was a reaper. He knew these things. Especially the ones that would lead to his teahouse, where he would show spirits the way through the doors of the beyond. Levi was no exception, even if he was a Goblin.

            Levi wondered if he would get that path as well.

            Would he be led down that teahouse…told to choose to drink that tea…and walk those doors? Or would he not be given that option at all?

            “Are you feeling alright?”

            Erwin almost sounded concerned.

            Levi smiled to himself. He looked down at his cup of tea.

            His tea had gotten cold long ago. He would have to heat it up later.

            “I’m going to die soon. I’m as good as it gets.”

            Erwin didn’t say anything at that. Those blue eyes just looked at Levi as if he knew more than was he let off. Levi hated how understanding those eyes looked.

            “I want to ask you a favor, eyebrows.”

            At those words, Erwin’s own eyebrows rose, and, a small, surprised chuckle left his lips.

            “A Goblin is asking a reaper for a favor. How rare,” Erwin teased.

            “Don’t get used to it,” Levi snarked, but he held a small smile of his own. It was almost unheard of to have Goblins and reapers interacting together in this way…a reaper took whereas a goblin gave.

            “Eren…after I’m gone…I’d like you to still let him live.”

            Erwin didn’t react at that comment, almost as if he had been expecting it. He held his bottle of water in his hand, not touching it, because he knew that Levi was still going to talk.

            Levi took a deep breath.

            “I’d like you to let him live…and erase his memories of me after I’m gone.”

            Now that was the big one.

            One of Erwin’s eyebrows raised.

            “That’s…a lot you’re asking for, Goblin.”

            Levi didn’t say anything.

            He knew that it’s what had to be done. For Eren and him both. He hadn’t known Eren long, but he knew the boy would never forgive himself even if it was Levi’s fault.

            He didn’t want him to live like that. No one deserved to live that way.

            “Will you do it?” Levi asked instead, not tearing his gaze away from Erwin’s, testing his honesty.

            For a split second, those eyes sparked a memory in Levi. A memory of a time long past—but then it was gone. Erwin’s posture was rigid, but his eyes were honest.

            “Yes, if it’s your death wish.”

            His smile was a little mocking, but it was also teasing.

            “It is.” Levi looked away and down, towards his cold cup of tea. “It’s my last wish.”

           

X

 

Levi had once wondered how his prince from back then was like recently.

            He wondered if his sister, her picture in the scroll in his room, was happy in her life, if she had been reincarnated again.

            Humans have seven tries.

            Seven tries to reincarnate again and have another chance at life.

            Levi hadn’t tried to look for them both. He had often wondered if he should.

            The thing was…he hadn’t wanted to look for them because they both wouldn’t remember him. The prince would be innocent in this life. Always a child compared to him.

            His sister wouldn’t know him—recognize him—and Levi was sure that would tear him into pieces.

            If fate decided, Levi had said… If fate decided for me to meet them, I will.

            But that fate had decided that his time was over, and Levi wasn’t one to be overly selfish.

           

 

X

 

            “Hey, brat.”

            “Hmm?”

            “Tomorrow…let’s do it tomorrow.”

 

X

 

**Eren**

            Levi really wasn’t being himself recently.

            Eren knew that it had to do with the sword that supposedly only he could take out. Eren couldn’t help but wonder if Levi was lying to him about something. What was he keeping back?

            Eren noticed that he himself had been doing a lot of staring lately.

            The sword in Levi’s chest was beautiful, and, now that Eren knew that Levi knew he could see it, he wouldn’t hold back sometimes.

            Its handle was red, like blood, and gold decorated several of its spirals, as if in wind. Eren wondered if Levi had ever wielded that sword. How did it even get there?

            Eren was really curious, but he didn’t want to be rude and ask. What if that was too personal for Levi?

            Well, after today it wouldn’t matter too much, would it?

            The sword would be gone, and Levi might open up to Eren on his own. Eren didn’t want to pressure him, but a title like “goblin’s bride” was no little deal, right?

            “Brat, are you ready?”

            Cut out of his thoughts, Eren turned towards the sound of Levi’s voice.

            Eren cleared his throat, putting himself together before standing up from his bed and following Levi down the stairs. In the kitchen, Erwin sat as stone-faced as ever, but, as his eyes met Eren’s, Eren noticed that his eyes were a bit strange. A bit melancholy. As if he were in mourning.

            “Wait for a second here,” Levi ordered, but, Eren, feeling a little edgy, followed behind. As Levi opened the front door, and, not noticing that Eren had followed behind him, walked through.

            And, suddenly, Eren was somewhere else. More specifically, he was somewhere else with Levi.

            He wasn’t outside Levi’s home, as it should’ve been, but in a bustling street—with cars and people walking down the sidewalk. It should have also been dark, but it wasn’t. It looked like the afternoon here.

            “Levi?” Eren gasped, and, startled, Levi turned to see him, those green eyes wide and blown.

            “What the fuck?” Grabbing Eren’s arm, Levi looked at the door they had come through. “Why are you here? Humans can’t cross.”

            Levi was as confused as Eren was, but, for a different reason. He kept staring at the door they had left behind.

            “I thought I told you to wait,” Levi finally sighed, but he released Eren’s arm. Eren was not really paying attention to anything he was saying. He was too busy taking in the sights of everything. Of the small shops and the people.

            “Levi,” Eren gasped, a sudden smile lighting up his face. “Are we in _France_?”

            Levi looked a little annoyed. “Well,” he drawled. “It was just supposed to be me in France, but now you’re here.”

            Levi didn’t mention that it wasn’t even supposed to be possible for Eren to cross with him at all. Humans didn’t have that power, and even others with supernatural powers couldn’t do it at all. Only goblins could travel in this way—by opening doors to other places or by fading into air. It was unheard of for anyone to be able to follow them as they traveled. That’s why Levi was so confused. This never happened.

            But now the goblin’s bride had done just that.

            Levi stared at the young boy as he looked around. His eyes were so bright as they tried to take in everything… Levi almost felt a little bad that he would forget it all.

            Clearing his throat, Levi grabbed onto Eren’s hand, something that had the smile in Eren’s face twitch a little in surprise.

            “Come on. Don’t get lost. We won’t be here too long... I have to run a fast errand.”

            So Eren travelled behind, his eyes still focused on the new sights but his mind on another…on the feel of Levi’s surprisingly warm hand holding onto his own. That feeling made his cheeks a little redder, and his heart beat a little faster.

            It’s the cold, Eren told himself. It’s just the cold…

            Levi’s small errand ended up in one of the offices next to a flower shop.

            Eren felt a little strange going in there. Everything felt formal, sort of like going to an attorney’s office. Eren didn’t understand anything as Levi spoke to the receptionist, but, as he signed one of the papers in the front, Eren realized that it looked a lot like a will.

            Before that thought had long to form, Levi was handing the sheet back. Levi didn’t say much as they left, but Eren couldn’t help but to think that he seemed distant. It wasn’t much of a difference compared to the past days, but, it was still strange to see him that way.

            When Levi led him back to the door they had gone through at first, Levi didn’t go home, something that surprised Eren a little.

            At Eren’s questioning glance, Levi shrugged.

            “I just wanted to see if you could follow me again,” he smirked, but he didn’t go through the door again.

            The place they were on at the moment looked a lot like a meadow. It was full of pretty flowers. Reds and blues and gold, and it was dark. From here, Eren could see the millions of stars that glittered in the sky, winking down at them both.

            “I want to do it here,” Levi revealed, looking back at Eren as he walked deeper, away from the door they had just opened. Eren didn’t say anything in response, he just hummed an acknowledgement.

            It was a beautiful place. It seemed so never-ending and peaceful.

            “Here,” Levi ordered, and his grey eyes held Eren in place.

            “You’re so strange,” Eren laughed. “Couldn’t we just have done this at home? I don’t think Erwin would have minded.”

            Levi just stared for a little, not saying a word.

            When he spoke again, he didn’t really acknowledge Eren’s comment.

            “When we’re done here,” Levi said, his voice calm, “walk down straight that road. We were going to come here originally on bus, but I didn’t know you could travel when I’m…” his voice trailed off, but then he continued. “They’ll be a bit surprised, but there is someone waiting to take you back home later. Tell him that your name is Eren, and Levi sent you.”

            Eren let out a nervous chuckle. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked. “Aren’t you going to come with me? I’m just taking your sword out, and that’s it, right? It’s not as if you’re about to die or anything.”

            Eren laughed a little again, nervously, and he looked into Levi’s face for him to agree.

            Levi was looking at him under that mask again, but he held a small half-smile on his face.

            “I’ll be fine,” Levi said. “I’ll be fine, so don’t worry.”

            Eren felt his smile fade for a little bit.

            Why did he feel as if Levi was lying?

            Levi softly grabbed onto Eren’s hands.

            “Do it,” he whispered softly, and the sword in his chest glinted under the light of the moon as if in anticipation.

            Levi closed his eyes, waiting.

            Eren, suddenly all nerves and confusion, attempted to stamp down the emotions that rolled around in his brain. All that he had to do was reach forward, right? Would it be hard to take it out? Would it hurt Levi?

            And Eren did reach out, his thin fingers softly grazing the top of the red handle.

            And, for a moment, Eren could touch it. He could feel its strength underneath his fingers, stern and alive.

            But in the same moment that he attempted to pull, the sword suddenly flickered.

            It became wind.

            Eren could still see it, but he couldn’t touch it.

            And he tried again and again. Three times.

            But the sword was not solid again.

            And the last time, Eren, in desperation, attempted to reach forward again, but he fell into Levi’s chest, shocked.

            Strong arms held him in confusion as Eren stiffened, suddenly feeling the most useless he had ever felt in his entire life.

            What happened?

            Why hadn’t it worked?


	7. Chapter 7

**Eren**

 

            Eren hunched his shoulders from where he sat, his hands in front of him as he held the cup of tea that Levi had brewed just a few minutes ago.

            Levi had been as confused as he was. Maybe a little more than he was.

            Hadn’t the ghosts called him the goblin’s bride??

            Had they been wrong? Was he actually a farce?

            An uncomfortable feeling rolled itself in his stomach, and Eren sunk deeper in his chair.

            Levi hadn’t said anything since they had gotten hope. He had just gotten them out of the cold first, called someone on his phone, and then made them some tea. He didn’t seem upset, just pensive…something that Eren really did not understand because he was feeling like shit. Didn’t Levi hate him? He hadn’t been able to get rid of the thing that Levi had been so worried about these past few weeks.

            If Eren didn’t know better, Levi looked almost relieved.

            “I should leave,” Eren stated glumly.

            At the sound of his voice, Levi’s eyes moved towards him. When he finally grasped Eren’s meaning, he raised an eyebrow.

            “Why?” Levi asked, placing down his cup of tea.

            Eren put himself together.

            A little pouty and upset, he said, “Weren’t you only keeping me here because you thought I was your bride?”

            “No, idiot,” Levi reprimanded softly. “You’re here because I wanted to help you, and you have nowhere else to go. Stop being so prideful.”

            Eren sniffed.

            He was starting to feel angry.

            He kept inconveniencing others around him…Armin, Levi….his father… he didn’t deserve this help. He was useless. He had always been useless, and he hated it. Not even this…something that he had supposedly been born to do…he couldn’t even do this. Something so easy.

            It was those thoughts that made him raise his voice.

            “No,” he shouted, shooting up on his seat. “No, you stop it! You don’t have to keep being so nice to me.”

            His bottom lip wobbled.

            “I’m sorry that I’m a failure,” he finished.

            With those final words, he pushed away from his chair and ran up the stairs and to his room.

            He must seem like such a kid to Levi. So young and stupid and immature. Those thoughts made him hesitate as he put his things together again. Just like last time, when he had thrown a fit.

            “Don’t be reckless, kid.”

            Eren jumped a little, shocked at how fast Levi had made it up the stairs. He didn’t even look flushed.

            “Stay here,” Levi ordered softly. “I want you to stay here…that and its cold as balls outside.” He hesitated a little. “No one should be outside in that shitty weather,” he stated.

            Just thinking about it, Eren had to agree that it was true. His fingers had been so numb just standing outside, and he had to keep fidgeting to keep some heat in his body. But…

            As soon as opposing thoughts began to form in Eren’s mind, Levi cut them down.

            “Let’s eat something from downstairs,” he said, motioning forward. “Erwin made some soup earlier. He won’t mind if we steal some.”

            And so Eren followed. A little disgruntled and hesitant, but Levi was satisfied to see that he was moving forward. Even if it was just a little.

 

X

 

**Levi**

 

            Now that he didn’t have a death sentence marked over his head, Levi was very relaxed.

            He didn’t know where he had gone wrong—or if Eren just wasn’t the right person just yet—but Levi was just so calm. He didn’t have to worry about being threatened by the gods about the end of his days, and he could just spend as much time as he could just living.

            And the more that he thought about these things, the more the possibilities rose.

            If Eren wasn’t really his bride, then why was he able to see Levi’s sword? Or travel with him when no one else had the ability to do so? Why was he not able to see all of Eren’s future?

            Why was Eren so special?

            And why had the gods allowed him to be there?

            The more that he thought about it, the more Levi was afraid to find the answer.

            Because the answer that he always arrived to—as he caught glances of his sister’s scroll—or as he read or wrote in his journal—was always the same one, and it was, honestly, the answer that he wanted the most to be true.

            What if the gods were finally allowing him a break from the past and gifting him a small future?

            What if Levi had finally been allowed to love, and Eren was the answer?

            With these thoughts, Levi forgot himself.

            And, as he forgot himself, he also lost hold of some of his reigns.

            Where, before, he wouldn’t allow himself to look at Eren too much if necessary, he was now allowing himself to admire.

            Levi admired so much.

            Even though Eren was so messy, when he came out of the shower, his hair wet, his t-shirt softly leaning on his skin—Levi found that his heart could do weird things. It would jump at the sight of green eyes looking in a separate direction and then towards him. It would beat faster, and adrenaline would jump into his blood as he would accidentally catch sight of blue boxer briefs over shorts. In his stomach, he would also find a plummeting emotion, like jumping off a cliff or riding a terrifying roller coaster, when Eren would laugh.

            And it was the strangest thing.

            Because, to him, Eren was becoming larger than life.

            And Levi wanted him so much.

            He was such an old geezer. Ancient. But he wanted everything that Eren was, and Levi had never wanted anything like that in his life.

            Before this, he only thought about dying.

            But now he was given the chance to _live_.

 

X

 

            Erwin had been a bit confused to see them back, but he didn’t seem upset. Instead, he had given them a smile.

            Levi could tell that it was the first time Eren had seen him do that, and it had caught him off guard. Levi himself was too tired to scold Erwin on his probably hinting to Eren that Levi had hid more than he had thought.

            More than anything, however, in the days that followed, Levi started to talk.

            Eren was a little surprised, but Levi hoped that surprise was pleasant. Eren definitely didn’t seem bothered. On the contrary, as Levi began to spark conversation, Eren decided to follow Levi on his walks.

            On more than one of those occasions, Eren called him an old man for being so old-fashioned. “Only old men take walks,” he laughed, and Levi had rolled his eyes. Eren was teasing in his conversations, and, although Levi knew that Eren was joking most of the time, some of his jokes irked him more than he could ever admit. Especially since they hit so close to home. A lot of his thoughts recently were about that almost endless age gap between them. It bothered Levi to no end. Eren and him were literally centuries apart in thoughts and experience, and Eren showed it most of the time. It frustrated Levi to have all these years in between.

            But when he wasn’t fussing about how old he was in comparison, Levi found himself thinking about little things.

            He might be out in the store, and certain things would bring out small thoughts of the boy with green eyes.

            A dark green scarf, flecks of light green in its surface…Levi knew that it would bring out the color in Eren’s eyes.

            Blue pens—Levi was certain that a few of his own had gone missing lately—he had recently found a small hoard in Eren’s room. It seemed that the boy loved to draw and write.

            Marvel figurines…Levi had found out a few days ago that the boy loved all things action and Marvel. His eyes would go wide with excitement if he caught sight of the figurines or the characters.  

            And so Levi started collecting….accidentally.

            Or so he said to himself.

            He had started collecting so many of those little gifts that he finally decided to give them to Eren. One by one. Slowly.

            “Hey, Eren, I have an extra scarf here. Do you want it?”

            “Really? Sure!”

            Or.

            “I bought a lot of pens a few days ago. Want some?”

            “Yes!!”

            The figurines were a little harder, but…

            “Erwin saw the movie, and they gave these for free. You can keep them.”

            “What? Really?? Heck yeah!”

            Levi found himself constantly scolding his spending habits recently.

            But it was easy to forget himself when Eren smiled at him like that.

            That, and…well…

            That scarf really did bring out the color in Eren’s eyes.

 

X

 

            It didn’t take long for a lot of that happiness to fade all of a sudden.

            Usually, Levi didn’t like to get drunk.

            Usually, he hated the smell of the alcohol on his body.

            However, it was hard to dismiss the cloudiness on his body when all that he wanted to do was forget those green eyes. He really just wanted to forget.

            It was a stupid reason, really.

            The thing was…Eren was just so gorgeous. And Levi was just so old.

            Was it even possible for Eren to like him?

            Eren was just so naïve. Levi was so sure that, if Levi wanted to get anywhere, he would have to plainly state to the idiot that he liked him. The thing was…Levi recently found himself losing his speech in front of that innocent figure.

            He couldn’t even tell the boy that those gifts he had given him were actually from him and not an excuse.

            Levi was frustrated in his own inability to form words and confessions, and he was feeling stupid. He had never been so flustered and so often in all of his life.

            He didn’t know what to do with himself.

            It was exactly like this that Eren found him. Drunk but still coherent in his kitchen again.

            “Are you alright, old man?” Eren teased, his smile light.

            Levi didn’t bother to answer, he just hummed.

            Making himself comfortable, Eren sat on one of the bar stools next to Levi.

            Leaning on his palm, Eren fixed Levi with one of his stares.

            Levi so far knew of three of those stares, and he classified them into different spectrums.

            Curiosity…where Eren’s eyes lit up like bright lights, a smile befitting the sun clear in his expression.

            Questioning—serious, an eyebrow raised, his chin raised and, depending on his mood, his lips a small upward quirk.

            The third is what he had on right now.

            Studious. Yet strangely seductive.

            Right now, Eren’s eyes were so immersed. As if Levi was all that he could see. This third spectrum was a combination of the previous two…Curious in that beautiful light and questioning in that upward quirk of his lips, eyes hooded.

            If Levi had no idea what to do with himself before, he had even less of an idea now.

            So Levi did what any man his age would do.

            He avoided that gaze.

            And maybe Eren didn’t notice or didn’t care, but he still smiled at him.

            It had taken him a while to smile at Levi like that.

            It had been a couple of weeks since he had first been unable to take the sword from him, and, at first, Eren had been a little prickly around him.

            He had avoided his gaze with that puppy face, guilty, and Levi hadn’t blamed him. It wasn’t his fault that fate was an absolute bitch. It loved to toy with them. Humans and supernatural creatures alike.

            But, after Eren had realized that Levi wasn’t about to throw him out or throw him to Erwin for that matter, Eren had been a lot more sure-footed around him. Easy to be around.

            Eren had been grateful, and Levi was happy that he felt that way.

            It still didn’t make it easier on his emotions, however.

            Levi was still a nervous, very conscious wreck around Eren.

            Noticing that Levi was avoiding his gaze, Eren smiled a little. His lips looked so pink and soft and Levi was drunk and these thoughts weren’t doing him much good.

            “Want to take a walk?” Eren suddenly voiced. “You like those.”

            Levi was disgruntled.

            “I’m not a dog,” he muttered, but he cleared his throat and pushed his glass forward, away from him. “But…yes,” Levi admitted. “I want to take a walk.”

            Maybe a walk would clear his head.

            It was cold outside, so maybe that would help. It could leave him clear-minded.

            Eren ran upstairs to retrieve his jacket, and Levi grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. As he waited for Eren to come back, loud and exuberant and youthful, Levi grabbed his gloves. He was a little hazy on his feet, but it was manageable.

            Besides, he wasn’t one to refuse going out for a little with the focus of his interests.

            He was going to allow himself this.

            Not once. Not once had he allowed himself to feel anything for anyone during these years. And now that he had the chance, Levi didn’t want to let it go.

            He wanted to keep Eren.

            When Eren finally bounded down the stairs, Levi couldn’t help but to stare. Eren’s smile really had magic to it.

            As they both walked side by side, Levi felt so comfortable.

            It felt so nice like this, Eren a surprisingly silent bundle of energy with Levi right beside.

            It was really cold outside. It had snowed a few hours back, but the snow was still so white against the sidewalk.

            The tip of Eren’s nose was pink, and he played with the puffs in the air, blowing gusts of wind through his lips.

            “What’s got you so silent today?” Eren finally asked, and Levi hummed, the sound coming from deep within his throat.

            “There’s just a lot going on in my mind right now,” Levi admitted. His steps were soft taps over the snow on the sidewalk. He noticed how Eren’s lips pouted and his gaze subtly lowered.

            “Is it because of me?” Eren asked, and Levi noticed the guilty sentiment behind the question.

            Yes. But not because of what you might think.

            “No,” Levi said. “I never said that it was because of you, did I?”

            Eren’s lips were still set in that pretty pout.

            Levi shot him a glare in annoyance.

            “It’s not because of you,” he reiterated. “I’m just rethinking my life choices.”

            He wasn’t really lying about that.

            He really was rethinking his life choices. Except those choices wanted to include a certain someone with green eyes in them.

            Eren was already very curious, and Levi could tell that his thoughts were wandering. If his gaze was anything to go by, he was curious about the sword going right through his chest. Levi wasn’t sure if he had the guts to answer those questions, but, since his mind was hazy, he knew he wouldn’t mind them.

            Especially if it was Eren. Eren would understand.

            Levi knew that.

            “Do you ever feel lonely?”

            Struck a little out of his zone, Levi was very surprised by the question. Levi thought that Eren would ask something along the lines of “How did you get that sword in your chest?” or “Have you always been this way?” but right off the bat…

            Levi was a little hesitant to reply, but, when he did, his tone was sincere.

            “Sometimes,” he admitted. “It hasn’t been too bad lately, though,” he added, looking at Eren from the corner of his eyes.

            Eren noticed his glance and smiled in response.

            “That’s good,” he laughed. “You’re so old I couldn’t help but to wonder.”

            Levi harrumphed.

            “I would appreciate if you stopped your old man jokes,” Levi scolded, irked. “I’ll stop walking with you otherwise.”

            Maybe the message finally went through because Eren nodded in acceptance, and he quieted. At least for a few seconds.

            “Does it bother you a lot?” Eren asked, chuckling a little nervously. “You never said anything before, so I’m sorry if I offended you.”

            Levi’s tender little heart quieted a little.

            Now he was just a little flustered. He blushed, but he was grateful that they were out in the cold. Eren could just amount the redness to the chilly weather.

            Now he really didn’t want him to think that he was bothered. What if that made him seem even more ancient?

            “No, it’s fine,” Levi said. His voice was gruff, but, deep within, his heart was doing little dives into the void. Maybe it was the alcohol clogging his brain, but he was losing a few of the filters he had over his words.

            “How your job going, brat?” Levi asked instead, attempting to reign in the urge to say something not warranted.

            “It’s great,” Eren laughed. “I’m really happy that I listened to you. Mikasa has become one of my most precious friends.”

            “That’s good.” Levi smirked a little. He was pleased to have been the cause of a little of Eren’s happiness. He felt that he deserved it, especially after all of the shit that had happened in his life.

            “It is,” Eren admitted, his smile softly becoming a little distant. “It just feels good to not have to go back home to someone that hates me. I have to thank you for that, too.”

            Levi was a little surprised at that comment, but he didn’t say anything. He just listened.

            “I know that you probably don’t want to hear me say this too much, but…” Eren bit his lip. “If it weren’t for you, I probably would have died more than once.” At Levi’s look, Eren laughed.

            “It’s definitely true, and I won’t stop saying thank you for it. That’s why…” Eren’s smile waned a bit. “That’s why I felt super useless when the one thing that you asked of me….I couldn’t do it. I wanted to help you. I wanted to help you, but….I’m really sorry.”

            “Hey,” Levi softly rested his hand on Eren’s back and patted it. “Don’t worry about it. If it wasn’t meant to be, then it wasn’t.”

            Eren’s frown was very clearly visible, and Levi knew that it was hurting a little of Eren’s pride to admit so much. He could tell that it would still bother him, no matter what Levi might say to try to counteract it.

            “What would that have done, anyway?” Eren asked, sniffing a bit. His nose was pink, the little cutie.

            But that question brought Levi back to the present.

            “I’m under a curse,” Levi revealed. “You would have been able to get rid of it if you had taken out the sword.”

            One of Eren’s eyebrows raised.

            “Really? What type of curse? I’ve researched a bit about goblins, but none of them seem close to you….At least, not if you count the height.” Eren smirked as Levi shot him a death glare.

            “There’s a lot of lore behind you guys. How you guys are tricksters that are out to eat human souls and stuff like that. Is it true?”

            Levi startled, staring at Eren in disgust. “What the fuck? No, that’s disgusting.”

            Eren raised his palms to attempt to calm Levi down and laughed. “Okay, okay…I get it. You’re not a demon.”

            Levi was still offended, and he showed it by raising his nose into the air. Eren noticed, and he couldn’t help the wrinkles that formed around his eyes at the hilarity of the sight.

            “Okay,” he chuckled. “What do you do then? Do you have cool powers aside from being able to transport yourself from one place to another in two seconds?”

            Levi tched. “Of course,” he said, knowing that this was his chance to show off. He had someone to impress after all. “I can bring people back to life,” Levi smirked, and Eren raised an eyebrow.

            “Really?” he asked, smiling. “Like zombies?”

            “In a way,” Levi stated. “If they’ve been dead for a few minutes at most, I can heal them and bring them back to how they were before. But there’s always something wrong with them if I do that, though. Also, I can’t do much if they’ve been dead for too long, but reapers still hate me for it.”

            “Oh,” Eren said. “Wow. That’s really cool.”

            “Of course,” Levi smirked. “I can do other things as well, though.”

            Eren was starting to notice that Levi wanted to show off, and he let him, showing a little grin of his own at the cuteness of it. “Really?” he chuckled, amused. “What else?”

            “I can control the weather,” Levi said. “Well…my emotions control the weather. It just depends on where I am.”

            Eren was surprised. Just a little.

            “What do you mean?” he asked. “Don’t we have seasons?”

            “Yeah,” Levi stated. “But if my emotions are very strong, weird things might happen. It could start raining like a monsoon in the middle of summer. Or it might be snowing and flowers might bloom. That one’s pretty rare, though.”

            Eren hummed. “What does that one mean? What about the rain?”

            Levi was a little hesitant to reveal his secret, but, if he had already revealed this much…

            “They’re pretty self-explanatory,” he said instead, but Eren understood. Now he couldn’t help but to look back on the times it had rained or been too hot to walk outside. Had that been because of Levi?

            Eren had been more than a little distracted, so, when he accidentally tugged on one of his shoelaces with his other shoe, he stumbled forward in a mess of limbs. Before he could go too far, Levi caught him in surprise, holding Eren’s arm with a strong grip.

            For one second, Eren was looking straight into the darkness of Levi’s eyes. The striking blues and greys that were reflected from the lamppost light over them—the worried furrowing of his eyebrows. That sharp nose.

            Eren held back a breath, lost.

            “You okay?” Levi asked. Those silver eyes looked down towards Eren’s feet, and Levi tched, scolding.

            “You clumsy idiot,” he stated. And, as he leaned down, Levi didn’t know who was more surprised. Himself or Eren as he reached down to tie Eren’s laces. As Eren lightly rested his hand on Levi’s shoulder, Levi felt himself freeze a little before he finally relaxed into the touch.

            Fuck. He was fine. This was fine.

            Fuck. Why was he such an awkward idiot?

            When he had finally finished, tying a strong double knot that would very likely give Eren a hard time later, he raised, and Eren’s hand slid down his chest.

            Levi didn’t notice when exactly Eren froze, but he did notice when Eren grabbed onto his arm, his eyes wide in shock. Levi was a little startled at the sudden movement, but he was fine. He was fine until Eren’s long fingers were gripping the handle of the sword right in front of him.

            “Levi,” Eren’s voice was choked in disbelief. “Levi, I can touch it. I can take it out.”

            And Levi was still in shock at this sudden nightmare, so, when Eren settled his feet strongly on the ground and began to pull out the metal penetrating his chest, the strong burning was what hit him first. He could feel the thing burning his insides, taking everything. And Levi was choking. And it was the sudden instinct to survive that forced him to quickly push away the cause of his pain.

            What Levi hadn’t noticed at first was that he had pushed too strongly, and now Eren was flying through the air very quickly and towards a brick building. And fuck if Levi didn’t move fast to catch up. Right before he could crash and very likely break all of his bones, Levi caught Eren in his arms, looking straight into his wide, shocked green eyes.

            “Fuck. You can also fly, huh?” he asked before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he collapsed.

 

X

 

            Levi was pacing back and forth in Eren’s room, and if the exasperated, dark glare Erwin threw him was anything to go by, he was being very irritating.

            “He’s fine, right?” Levi asked again, pausing in his travel around the room.

            “He didn’t hit his head,” Erwin stated, looking down at the figure on the bed. “He just has a few bruises, but he’s fine.”

            Levi studied Erwin’s face for a few seconds. He was avoiding his eyes again, and Levi didn’t like it.

            “What are you hiding?” Levi asked, watching as Erwin softly raised the covers to Eren’s chin.

            “Nothing,” Erwin stated, his voice blank. “He just fainted from shock, that’s all.”

            Levi glared, crossing his arms in front of himself.

            Erwin didn’t fidget. It wasn’t in his nature. He didn’t avoid, either. But then why was he suddenly so rigid? It’s not as if that was entirely uncommon. It’s just that recently he hadn’t been.

            For a split second, Erwin’s eyes slid towards Levi’s figure. When he caught sight of those suspicious eyes looking straight at him, he turned away, lifting himself from beside Eren’s bed. He looked almost mechanic as he walked towards the door, passing Levi on the way there. Yet, as he was passing him, he paused in his steps, looking down at Levi with those metallic blue eyes.

            Levi didn’t pry because he felt that Erwin would reveal what he had to on his own.

            And he did.

            His lips thinly held together, Erwin rummaged in one of his coat pockets, stopping for a bit as he found what he needed. As he paused, almost as if thinking a little further, he took the item out of his pocket, handing it to Levi.

            Mostly in confusion, Levi stared at the blank card in front of him. On the very top, a golden, cursive “R” lay in rest, but, aside from that, it was completely empty.

            “What is this?” Levi asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he turned it around to survey the back. It was also empty.

            “It’s a death card,” Erwin revealed. “I received it this morning.”

            Levi raised a brow, holding the card so that Erwin could see how empty it was.

            “There’s nothing on it,” he observed plainly.

            “Yes,” Erwin said, tone flat. “But there was a name on it. And I was supposed to pick up that person at exactly eleven twenty-five at night.”

            Levi’s eyebrow remained raised, waiting for what Erwin was going to say.

            When Erwin only looked at him in exasperation, he rubbed his face in his hand, releasing a huge sigh. Levi looked down at the card again, trying to see if any traces of the name were still there.

            “It was Eren,” Erwin revealed, looking very tired. “Eren’s name was on the card, and it disappeared.”

            Levi felt his breath leave him for a few seconds.

            “What do you mean?” Levi scowled. His hold on the card had increased drastically, crumbling the thick paper underneath his fingertips.

            “He was supposed to die,” Erwin murmured, and the eye bags under his eyes had become more drastic. “Not only that, I also-”

            Levi interrupted him, not being able to hold the raw shock in his throat.

            He knew that time of death. It had been when Eren was walking with him.

            “Are you telling me that I was supposed to have killed him?” Levi hissed, the vision behind his eyes becoming a repeat of the moment when Eren had held onto the sword and Levi had thrown him back.

            Erwin’s lips became thin again before he nodded hesitatingly.

            It was like that that Levi dropped in a crouch. His hands were buried in his hair, and his fingers were shaking.

            “Fuck,” he laughed, his chuckle empty and distant. “Shit. I could’ve killed him. What the hell?”

            “But you didn’t,” Erwin commented. “He’s fine, and that’s never happened before.”

            Levi glanced upwards, Erwin’s figure towering over him. Those blue eyes met his own silver ones.

            “What do you mean?” Levi asked, confusion making his voice shaky.

            Erwin’s gaze didn’t waver.

            “It’s not the first time I’ve seen his name on the death card.”

            Lifting himself up again, Levi took a few seconds to weigh that sentence in his brain. He didn’t understand. Weren’t all deaths predetermined? What was different now?

            And that was when the thought struck him.

            Who had been there to save Eren when he was about to die every single time?

            “I’ve seen his name at least two different, previous times from this one,” Erwin admitted, glancing down at the crumbled card in Levi’s hand. It remained there for a few seconds before he looked back into Levi’s eyes.

            “But every single time…it’s disappeared.” Erwin’s gaze didn’t waver. “And I think that you’re the cause of it. Only a goblin can change fate like that.”

            Without saying a word, Levi opened his fist to look at the inconspicuous, harmless card over his palm. Although Levi was looking away, Erwin gaze didn’t move from the strange, blank look on Levi’s face. He was probably as confused as Levi was.

            “And also…” Erwin glanced at Eren’s sleeping figure and then softly grabbed Levi’s arm to pull him out of the room. Once they were outside, Erwin closed the door behind them.

            “I’m not sure if you were interested, but…” Erwin’s voice was a whisper and his lips contorted into a wince. “Eren’s father is dead.”

 

X

 

            Erwin’s job was a complicated business.

            As he took a seat beside Erwin, Levi adjusted his coat, slowly rolling up his sleeves. His eyes pierced the man sitting across from them. The man stared back.

            His hair was shaggy, and his eyes were gaunt, glasses sitting over his nose. Levi was attempting to find any similarities between him and Eren, but it was a difficult task. Whereas Eren’s eyes were warm, this man’s eyes were cold and unregretful.

            Erwin very neatly grabbed a tea kettle and began to serve tea in one cup. He placed it in front of the man.

            “Grisha Jaeger,” Erwin said. “Do you know what this place is?”

            Grisha’s eyes remained on Levi’s figure for a few seconds longer before looking back at Erwin.

            “I’m dead,” Grisha said. There was a feral grin on his face, and his eyes were wild.

            Levi had seen people similar in appearance to this man’s character, but it still disturbed him every time. He couldn’t understand how someone as tainted as this had anything to do with Eren.

            “Do you remember how you died?” Erwin asked. He lightly rested the kettle beside him, looking the very picture of professional as one of his hands rested over his knee and the other placed a slip of paper into his pocket.

            “Yes. I was stabbed.”

            With squinted, focused eyes, Levi studied the man in front of him, looking into his past. The pictures were distorted, hazed, but he could see important moments—a flash of silver, of looking down towards his hands…of a boy with green eyes…excited eyes that quickly became fearful as strong hands threw him to the ground…of a woman with a frail figure, small in comparison to the man in front of him, but those eyes…Levi recognized those eyes. He saw as that woman tenderly patted her grown stomach, smiling, but then that picture changed. He saw a car and that woman waiting.

            Then the flashing of lights. The sound of a body hitting the car and—

            “You’ve caused suffering to others in your lifetime,” Erwin said. “You don’t deserve forgiveness for your wrongdoings.”

            Erwin pointed to the cup of tea he had placed in front of Grisha.

            “The cup in front of you has the power to erase all of your memories and your suffering.”

            At those words, Grisha attempted to grab onto the cup, but it slept away from his fingers. When he finally got the change to hold it, he couldn’t move it upwards. If he attempted to touch the liquid, it became solid, immoveable.

            By the end of it all, Grisha was breathing hard, his eyes desperate and sweat rolling down his forehead. Levi watched all of this with a strong sense of disgust

            “Because of your wrongdoings, you will sink in purgatory for the rest of eternity.”

            With those words, there were suddenly shadows grasping at Grisha’s arms, opening an entrance to a side door. The whole way, Grisha struggled and screamed, shouting that he would come back—that he had a debt to pay.

            Seeing him disappear like that, Levi felt his shoulders drop as he let out a relieved breath.

            That man. He was gone. Now Eren didn’t have to worry about being safe.

            Levi would keep him safe.

            But how was he going to tell him that his father was gone now?

            Buried in his thoughts, Levi watched distractedly as Erwin grabbed the cup of tea he had served before. He silently waved his hand over the small glass, and the water faded, like a mirage. Levi wondered if that show of serving it in the start was a type of torture for those that committed sins. Having their salvation right in front of them but being unable to touch it. That would probably haunt them for all of eternity. Being that close…remembering everything…

            Just like him.

            It was those thoughts that brought him back to the memories he had seen from Grisha.

            Levi recognized the woman in those memories.

            He had seen many people—remembered many

faces—but he definitely remembered those eyes.

            He had seen that woman once. Many years ago.

            Her fingers had stretched out, and she had held to her stomach, blood covering her face and her legs.

            “Please save my baby,” she had begged. “You don’t need to save me, but please save my baby.”

            Fuck.

            As Erwin led him outside of his small abode, Levi covered his face with his hands.

            That woman.

            That woman was Eren’s mother.

            The woman that he had saved all those years ago was Eren’s mother.

            Aside from having saved that woman’s life, Levi had accidentally saved the life of his future bride. That baby…how could Levi have known?

            Which led him to now.

            How the fuck was he going to deal with the fact that Eren really held the power to take out the sword and end his life?

            The first time hadn’t worked, so why had that changed now?

            What was he supposed to do now? Especially with these complicated feelings?

            He wanted Eren. He really wanted him.

            And Levi was scared of calling it love, but it was close.

            Dangerously close.

            What was he supposed to do?

            Should he just end it all? Or could he keep the man that was quickly claiming his heart as his?

 

X

 

            Levi forced himself not to avoid things.

            Especially not Eren. It wasn’t his fault.

            Eren quickly learned about the death of his father, and, although they hadn’t been close and Grisha had caused his life to be misery, he was still in mourning. To keep his mind off of things, Levi found that Eren relied on him more. When Levi would go on his walks, Eren followed close behind.

            Levi loved those moments the most.

            That’s why, when he started to think about the future, he was suddenly starting to think that it wouldn’t be too bad. If Eren was by his side, Levi wouldn’t mind if he wouldn’t be able to die. He would just wait for Eren over and over.

            Hadn’t the gods made him just for him after all?

            And Levi wasn’t a fool. He had noticed Eren’s interest. He had seen Eren’s curiosity. Lifetimes after lifetimes had shown him what that spark of light in those bright eyes meant. But it was up to Levi to choose to refuse them or accept them.

            What did he really want?

            To live?

            Or to love?

            About a week after Grisha’s death, an event transpired to help Levi decide a lot quicker.

            On one of Levi’s walks, Eren had followed. He had mellowed out a lot, his manners more mature and aware. However, around Levi, he was still all tender smiles and mischievous looks. They had lessened a little, but this was still his Eren.

            On that walk, Levi had decided to go into a small bookstore while Eren had gone to get some hot chocolate. He had promised to get Levi some of his favorite tea, and Levi had grunted a noncommittal response even though he was very pleased.

            The bookstore that Levi entered was small. The thing that had first caught his eye about it, however, was the fact that it looked so homely. There were different varieties of novels and picture books—most of them hard-bound. At first glance, it looked empty, but the front desk held a balding old man that reminded Levi a lot of Pixis, the main man behind his company and one of the few that knew his secret.

            Levi walked through one of the rows, his eyes wandering over the book covers. There was a lot to see. Levi hadn’t kept himself very updated with modern novels, but seeing so many in one place never ceased to bring a spark of delight within his chest.

            As he walked, just observing, he reached the last two rows. These last rows hit a white wall, and, Levi, noticing that his small trip would end soon, walked a little slower, just admiring the bindings of the books. It was so rare to find a place that took care of their novels so well, binding them so strongly, like old novels to be kept young.

            It was in this immersing mindset that Levi suddenly found the walls around him elongating and the exit behind him being closed off. Noticing the sudden change around him and feeling the danger, Levi’s feet settled onto the ground as his whole body gained a defensive stance.

            Then. Right in front of him, there was a bright light, taking over the wall and opening it as a figure passed through.

            This figure, wavy curls bunched up in a ponytail and wide-rimmed glasses sitting on a crooked nose, walked straight towards him, hands on their waist. Their hair was reddish brown, and there was a light surrounding them, bright.

            And Levi knew exactly who this figure was.

            He had never seen them before, but all it took was one look.

            What being didn’t know when a god stood before them like this?

            But were gods supposed to look this crazy?

            “Hello,” the being greeted coolly. Behind those glasses, Levi felt pinned, like a butterfly on an observation piece. He felt like the being in front of him was studying him closely. They were curious, and the maniacal light behind those eyes told him all that he needed to know.

            “Who are you?” Levi asked gruffly. “What do you want?”

            The last time he had ever heard from a god, it had been right after he had been brought back from the dead to suffer centuries of pain and loss. Who knew what they wanted now.

            “Why aren’t you dead yet?” the god asked, and Levi was struck speechless.

            What the fuck?

            “I sent you Eren,” they remarked, thoughtful. They leaned one of their fingers under their chin, pondering.

            “He should’ve taken out the sword by now, so why hasn’t he done it yet?”

            Levi’s mouth was agape in indignation. He wanted to get angry and shout. He wanted to let out centuries of pain—

            “You do know that the longer you live, the more Eren is in danger, right?”

            At Levi’s look, the stranger shook their head. They adjusted the glasses over their nose. “I’d really appreciate if you died soon,” the figure scolded. “Eren is one of my favorite creations, but, if you don’t die, there is no point to his existence. Things will keep on happening to him until he dies or until you do.”

            At those words, Levi’s thoughts fell flat.

            What?

            Did that mean that until Levi died, things that threatened Eren’s life would keep on happening?

            “That’s why you should die soon,” the figure commented. “I wouldn’t want one of my most prized creations to go to waste like that. Haven’t you’ve been waiting for this moment since you died the first time?”

            “What the fuck are you saying?” Levi managed to finally spit out.

            The figure tutted. “I thought you were smarter than that,” they said. “Please finish whatever you have to do here and then tell Eren to take out the sword soon, okay?”

            With those words, the light brightened to the point of almost blinding Levi. He covered his eyes with his arm, and, soon, he was back to where he had been originally. The books around him were unharmed.

            But now there was a voice. Calling out to him.

            “Levi! Levi!” it called excitedly. Turning the corner, Eren’s wild mess of hair became visible and then those beautiful eyes.

            “I have your tea,” Eren grinned, handing Levi his cup. He held his own cup of hot chocolate.

            Noticing the paleness of Levi’s complexion, Eren frowned.

            “Are you okay?” he asked. “You’re looking a little sick there.”

            As Levi held the cup, his hold around it tightened a little, enough to pop the lid open and for a bit of the scorching liquid to hit his fingers.

            This would be the last time.

            This would be the last time he would lie to Eren like this.

            “I’m fine,” Levi said.

            “Everything is fine.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Eren**

 

            Eren grimaced again.

            “How long has he been like that?” he whispered down to Erwin, who was sitting down and reading his newspaper on the couch.

            Not glancing up from his paper, Erwin stated, as if it were no big deal, “Since 10.”

            As if 10 hadn’t been two hours ago.

            Eren had woken up at noon that day, gone downstairs to get some chocolate and cookies, and he found a pacing Levi. Only this Levi kept going back and forth, he would sit down for a few seconds… and then continue again in his endeavor.

            Also, ever since they had gone on that last walk—the one where Levi went into the library and disappeared for a while—Levi had been acting like this. Well, not exactly pacing all the time, but…just strange.

            He would go from being mopey to angry from one moment to the next. He would huff around and be frustrated. Other times, Eren would find himself watching TV or just laying around, and he would look up to find Levi staring at him with a very strange look on his face. It would leave Eren feeling very jittery and blushing.

            At first, Eren had wondered if that look had anything to do with Levi realizing what type of feelings he had towards him, but, when Levi didn’t attempt to address this thought, Eren wondered if he was wrong. It still didn’t help when he had these self-conscious emotions towards the older man. His cheeks reddened if Levi so much as uttered something that might be considered inappropriate. And he found his eyes wandering downwards when Levi would turn. Those slacks did very sinful things to Levi’s hips and his ass, and Eren was eighteen. He was at the point in his life when he noticed these things.

            He couldn’t help it, okay?

            Those weren’t the only reactions he had, however. After his father had passed, it had been Levi that had given him support. He had been there even before that. Levi was self-less, and, even though he had first come off as an asshole, Eren now knew that Levi was someone that cared about others. A lot. And this knowledge brought with it an awareness of the man that he hadn’t had before. Levi was an angel, and Eren found himself following him with his eyes more times than he could count.

            It was because of this that Eren wondered if the reason Levi was acting so strangely was because he had realized the emotions Eren carried, but Levi acted the same as always around him. If anything, Levi seemed a little more open to having him around. Well…that had been before that last meeting.

            After that day, Levi had acted very hot and cold.

            He would be calm and thoughtful one moment, sipping his tea near the kitchen counter like always. Other times he would fume and throw himself into a cleaning frenzy. And Eren knew that it was because of Levi that the weather had been thrown into a disarray as well.

            It was the middle of winter, but, on the days when Levi was clearly frustrated, it would burn so hot outside that Eren was afraid of walking outside and getting a skin rash from the heat. Other days were rainstorms with loud thunder breaking down the trees in their neighborhood.

            Eren didn’t know what to do to help, but he tried as best as he could to do something.

            If Levi was too upset, Eren would offer him a cup of tea. Eren knew how weak his tea made him, and he took advantage of it a lot. If he was too upset, Eren stayed away from his temper because he knew that Levi sometimes took it out on others, but he would silently pick up some cleaning supplies and attempt to make Levi’s job a little easier.

            It was a little harder on the days when it would rain. After Eren realized what the rain meant, especially when it came to Levi’s emotions, he would find Levi and give him the warmest blanket he could find. If Levi was watching TV, he would do this, and, with his complementary tea, Eren had kept some sweet bread stocked around so that he could offer to eat together.

            At first, Levi had been a bit unresponsive to Eren’s comfort, but, after a while, he had become a lot more receptive. One time, Eren had leaned down on his shoulder accidentally as he fell asleep, and he hadn’t known that happened until he woke up to find himself in that same position with Levi still watching the news.

            As Eren followed Levi’s trajectory across the room, he frowned.

            One of the things that he really wished he could pay back to Levi was emotional support. Yet, though he could offer all the help that he could, there was only so much that he could do. What could he do if Levi wouldn’t open himself to him either?

            Eren hadn’t tried to ask too many questions after Levi pushed him away the night he had uncovered that he could take out the sword. He knew that Levi didn’t want to tell him something, and he was trying to understand why. If he pushed too hard, Levi would most likely retract into that shell he so often placed himself in.

            Eren really didn’t want that.

            So he would give him time, even if he had to wait forever for it.

 

X

 

**Levi**

 

            In all of the years that he had been alive, Levi had never acted or felt this way.

            Just remembering those stupid glasses brought fire into his veins, and Levi would have to hold himself back from gritting his teeth together too painfully.

            When he thought back onto those words, his emotions would fluctuate like unsteady waves. He was calm one moment, thinking about the fact that he had planned this for centuries. He could die. But then he was a natural disaster the next. He wanted to weep on his own and next to his sister’s portrait and complain about the injustice of the gods and their hypocritical ways. Other times he wanted to burn everything down to a crisp and just take Eren with him.

            He would keep Eren safe. He would keep him alive.

            No one could take Eren away from him. He would make sure of that.

            Recently, a vision had been bothering him.

            It would come in glimpses and flashes, and he could see Eren. Eren in his blue coat, wearing comfortable black jeans. He would go up the steps of a bus and then wave good-bye to him. A smile. And then the doors would close.

            But then. That bus would ride for a few minutes in traffic. Then the hail would start.

            The bus would lose control, and it would reach a bridge.

            Within a few seconds, it would hit the edge and then go down, into cold water.

            The rest of the images are what forced Levi to succumb to nightmares.

            Floating bodies. Lifeless.

            And Eren’s gasping breaths. And then the disappearance of the mark on his neck.

            Levi forced himself to think about it all of the time.

            He couldn’t lose him.

            He needed Eren alive. He would keep him alive and no thousands of gods would keep him away from him.

            He was his person.

            For the first time in centuries, Levi wanted to live, and Eren was the reason why.

            Why didn’t Levi deserve this happiness? From the moment in which Eren had held on to that sword for the first time and the truth came to light, Levi realized that his life would remain like this. If he kept being pushed aside by elements of nature—by the gods, by fate—would he even have a chance to make his own choices?

            For the first time, he wanted to make his own choice.

            He wanted to live.

            He could keep Eren safe. He was a Goblin. Reapers hated goblins because of the very reason that they could change fate.

            He could do this…

            Right?

 

X

 

            “What a shame,” the reaper said. “They’re so young, and there’s so many of them.”

            Erwin hummed absentmindedly, looking down at the cards between his fingertips.

            At exactly 2:27 o’clock in the afternoon, the bus would plummet into the winter waters, taking with it 16 lives.

            All of the reapers here were waiting for the bus to depart towards its final destination.

            They all held more than one card in their hands. The names were written in red.

            All that they had to do was wait.

            It was in these thoughts that Erwin saw Eren approaching. He was about a stop away, waiting for the bus. Erwin, in his shock, looked down at his cards.

            Eren’s name wasn’t on them, but it made sense. Eren always took the bus to go to work. He always took this bus.

            Erwin looked back up to stare, and Eren, as if feeling his gaze, looked in his direction. Recognizing him under that dark hat, Eren’s face brightened into a smile, and he waved. Softly, in response, Erwin tipped his hat.

            “Can that boy see us?” the whisper stirred among the reapers, but Erwin didn’t pay any attention. His focus had gone down to the cards.

            As soon as Eren stepped onto that first step, Erwin saw as the names on the cards began to disappear, making the sheets white once again.

            Looking in Eren’s direction once again, sure enough, Levi was there. One of his hands were in his coat pockets as he waved goodbye. But Erwin saw that twitch in his fingertips, and he heard the pop in the front wheels of the bus.

            Feigning no knowledge towards the incident, Levi took a step back as the confused bus driver walked down the stairs and looked at the flat tires in shock.

            The bus didn’t even pass by the bridge that day.

            But Erwin realized something on his way back home and as he did his paperwork describing the incident.

            Eren was a wild card.

            He was a human that could change fate.

            Because he had escaped death before he was even born, he wasn’t part of the equation anymore. Fate wasn’t certain around him. It wasn’t set.

            And this was all because of the Goblin that stood by his side.

 

X

 

            “There was a leak in souls,” Erwin brought up one morning while he read the newspaper and Levi drank his tea.

            Pausing a little to have that sentence digested in his head, Levi raised an eyebrow.

            “Really?” he uttered, not knowing how that had anything to do with him. “What does that even mean?”

            Erwin placed down his newspaper to meet Levi’s eyes.

            “It means that a few souls have escaped purgatory,” Erwin explained, tone matter-of-fact. His blue eyes, however, were speaking volumes of emotion. There was a strong sharpness in the way that he looked at Levi, as if he wanted to enunciate the exact importance of this event.

            Levi still waited, eyebrow raised.

            A little in exasperation, Erwin released a sigh.

            “Eren’s father was one of the ones that escaped, Levi.”

            Maybe it was the suddenness of that realization or what it could mean, but the cup of tea that Levi held in his hands slipped. There was a sharp crash.

            At his reaction, Erwin frowned.

            “I don’t know what this means for Eren or for you,” he admitted. “But I’d like to think that we’ve become a little close for me to tell you this…”

            Almost as if thinking twice about what he wanted to say, Erwin hesitated, biting his lip.

            “It’s true that I don’t know much about this, but…There’s only so many times you can escape fate before it catches up to you.”

            Standing up from his seat, Erwin took his newspaper and walked away, towards the stairs and into his room.

            For a while, as Levi stared at the spot that Erwin had left behind, he thought about how difficult his decision could end up becoming the further down the road he crossed. Exactly how much could he do before it all caught up to him? Could he really trust himself to keep Eren safe?

            All in all, Levi knew that this was no accident.

            Something like this—the fact that the father that had abused Eren so much was free—was no accident. Knowing especially the type of danger that followed Eren…Levi knew that it wouldn’t amount to anything good.

            Pursing his lips and glancing down at the broken cup of tea on the ground, Levi adjusted himself to pick up the pieces. It was then that Eren poked his head out from one of the hallway entrances towards the kitchen, concerned face visible underneath messy bed hair.

            “You okay? I heard a crash a few minutes ago.”

            “Everything’s fine,” Levi responded, regarding the broken pieces on the ground. He didn’t feel like picking them up. He just wanted to sleep, but knowing they were a hazard…

            “Would you like some help?” Eren asked, his eyes laying on the mess on the floor. He winced a little, knowing how much Levi loved his tea cup sets.

            “It’s alright,” Levi said.

            If he kept repeating that to himself, it might make it true.

            “Everything is alright.”

            How long could you fight the gods before they came to you?

 

X

 

**Eren**

 

            Eren found himself wanting to doze off a lot recently.

            Finals had come up, and he had spent hours putting his study materials together. There was also the fact that Grisha’s immediate family had held a funeral following his death. Eren hadn’t attended, mostly because he had never felt like his son, but he had done a lot of mourning on his own.

            That man haunted his dreams. No matter how Eren attempted to avoid his nightmares, his father was always there, hunting him down and wanting to get rid of him.

            Even though Eren had never been close to him, his sudden death had taken a toll on him, and he tried his best to hide it.

            He had spent more time talking to Levi and burying himself into his school work and his job with Mikasa. He also spent more time with his friends. Armin would sometimes hang out in his room talking into the early morning while Sasha and Connie lazied around, listening to Eren and Armin talk.

 

 

            Levi had been warmer towards Eren these days. Although he was still a little strange with his moods, he appeared to be settling down, something that had relieved Eren. He had found that Erwin had also known about Levi’s strange moods, and he had also been more receptive to his changing demeanor.

            Recently, although it was still a little awkward, especially knowing that Erwin was a reaper and probably still after his soul, they had been getting along. Maybe it was because Erwin had been getting closer to Levi recently, but their common ground had become Levi. Erwin had clearly started to care about the grumpy man, and Eren had also become close to him, although their interest in him was different. Especially recently.

            Eren was finding his infatuation a lot harder to combat, and it was taking a toll on his daily life.

            More than once, he had reacted towards Levi’s presence, especially if he had been distracted and suddenly Levi would appear, with blushing skin—something that Eren quickly found that would reach his ears and a little of his chest. With Levi around, Eren would startle without meaning to. And sometimes he would find his heart doing that weird thing—the one where a suffocating feeling would take over it, and it would envelop the entirety of his chest. All that he could feel was right in the middle of it.

            Sometimes his stomach would do weird things, too.

            Something would jump in there when he was nervous. Other times that feeling was so nerve-wracking but so delicious that he couldn’t help but want to feel it over and over again. He wanted Levi to look at him with those smoldering eyes all of the time. He wanted to feel those cold hands over his own. He would make him warm, he rationalized.

            Sometimes those thoughts would become knots.

            Oh, how he would love it if Levi’s touches would become less innocent.

            He could imagine Levi lightly brushing his arm and then steadily becoming more forceful in his movements. He would grab the front of Eren’s shirt and kiss him, make his mind go hazy. Eren knew that Levi had the power to do that. It was so easy.

            He would kiss him, and then he would softly go lower. Traveling down his neck and then down his chest and then—

            “Eren, stop daydreaming and get to work.”

            Startling a little at being caught, Eren blushed. He met Mikasa’s eyes with a sheepish expression. Although she looked stern, there was a glimmer of humor in her eyes. That and the forming smirk on her lips.

            “Stop slacking off,” she teased. “Just because I’m leaving for the rest of the day doesn’t mean that you can just slack off, okay?”

            “Yes, master,” Eren chuckled, recuperating from his few seconds of embarrassment and wanting to joke around as well. It was really a good thing that Mikasa couldn’t read his mind. He would be mortified out of his mind if she could.

            “I’m going to leave you to rearrange everything in the fridge, is that alright?” Mikasa looked back at him as she packed her things.

            “I can do that, yeah,” Eren assured. “I’ll clock out a little earlier today, I think. It’s been getting colder, so I might try to catch the bus before 11.”

            “That’s fine,” Mikasa replied. “Just remember to lock up before.”

            And with final goodbye’s, Mikasa left him in the care of her shop.

            For a while after she left, due to the lack of customers that night, Eren just fiddled on his phone, trying to waste a bit of time before he would have to go to the back and fix things in the refrigerator.

            After about an hour or two, Eren went to the back, leaving his phone underneath the counter with his things. He put up the “CLOSED” sign, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to hear any customers coming in even if he tried. Besides, at this time it was rare for anyone to come in. Especially with this weather.

            Humming a soft tune under his breath, Eren opened the door into the refrigerator, not forgetting to place a stool at the entrance in between the door. He didn’t want to get locked in here, after all. This refrigerator was one of those that locked on you once you closed them.

            They hadn’t tried to fix it, so it would lock automatically once it closed. He’d gotten locked in there once, but Mikasa had been there to take him out. He had to be careful this time.

            Working diligently, Eren went through sorting out the different packages of food. They were a bit heavy, but the ordeal wasn’t too bad. Of course, it was cold, but it wasn’t too bad.

            But the more that he thought about it, the more the cold bothered him, so he went outside again to quickly grab his jacket. He would be in there for a while, after all.

            As he reentered the fridge, he distractedly went in, going directly towards the row that he had just come from prior to leaving.

            However, it was the sliding and the click that made him freeze.

            Fuck. That wasn’t what he thought it was, right? It couldn’t be.

            But it was.

            And, as he turned, his eyes were wide.

            The closed refrigerator door met his eyes. Dull. Gray. And very, very real.

            In his stupidity, he had completely forgotten to put the stool back in its place.

            Eren stood there for a few seconds, frozen, eyes stuck on the door.

            He could hear his heart beating so hard it felt like it was beating in his ears.

            And that was what made him run forward.

            In his desperation to open the damn thing, Eren held onto the handle as hard as he could, pulling back with all of his strength.

            There was dread settling itself into the pit of his stomach, contaminating him. His hands were sweating, and he was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was fucking alone here. He had left his phone with his other things, and Mikasa was gone for the rest of the day. There was also the fact that he had left the damn “CLOSED” sign in the front of the shop.

            And maybe it was those thoughts that fueled him to pull harder on the handle, grunting in his efforts with the urge to scream.

            But, like an idiot, he pulled so hard that he lost his grip on the damn thing, losing his footing as he propelled backwards.

            Slamming onto one of the metal storage rows behind him, Eren wobbled in place, hurting his shoulder in the process.

            Attempting to calm his breath, Eren tried to put himself back together.

            However, before he could think too much on that, the entire metal structure behind him toppled over, bringing him down with it.

            As he fell over, Eren let out a yelp and then a strangled scream.

            Fuck. Fuck. He was a fucking idiot.

            He was a fucking idiot, and now his whole body was suffering because of it.

            He couldn’t move from where he lay trapped.

            And fuck. He couldn’t breathe. His chest—it wanted to expand, but he couldn’t bring any air into his lungs. Just quick tries—

            One—two—

            Fuck.

            Eren attempted to move his head to look towards the door, but he knew what he would find. In his attempt to open the damn fucking thing, he had still failed to see that there was no way out. There was no fucking way out unless someone opened it from the outside.

            What shit…

            Fuck.

            And his head was still hurting like a bitch.

            He could just barely move his body, but the damn bars that held the bags of food…they were crushing him, right at the top of his back and over the rest of his body. They were damn heavy. He was also pretty damn sure he was bleeding from his head, but he was trying really hard not to think about it.

            You’ll get out of this one, Eren told himself, almost praying. There were things that he hadn’t done yet with this life—with everything else—with what he wanted to admit to Levi or thank his friends for.

            On a timer, the light over his head flickered out. Now he couldn’t see anything at all. He could just hear his rough breathing.

            And he couldn’t stop thinking.

            As he lay there limply, all that he could do was think.

            It was fucking cold here. So fucking cold.

            If he could speak—

            “Help,” Eren croaked weakly. Even that caused coughs to wrack his body, making his body feel like heavy lead.

            Fuck. This sucked. This was fucking torture. How was he not able to do anything?

            He was still dazed. And his head… From where he lay with his hands next to his head, he could feel liquid reach his hands. His finger twitched. Fuck. A puddle. It was a little thick, but he knew exactly what it was. If the back of his head and the strange wetness was any indication, he was pretty sure he was bleeding his head off.

            Fuck everything. He wanted to laugh, but he wanted to cry.

            Fuck. This was a stupid way to die.

            His vision was hazy, and his eyelids felt heavy. He knew that he couldn’t fall asleep. What if someone found him? What if Mikasa came back and saved him? What if Levi did?

            Would Levi come running down the door—bringing it down—just to get to him?

            God, would he love that.

            His man, he chuckled. And even that hurt.

            His man would come, he thought.

            He felt so faint.

            So faint.

            And his eyes closed.

 

X

 

**Levi**

 

            “You’re a big oaf,” Levi grunted as Erwin very carefully held his cup of tea in his hands, blowing the top to cool down the beverage. What Levi thought was amusing was the very tender way in which he did it. He once threatened to beat Erwin’s ass if he caused even once crack on his cup. The loss of his last cup had taken Levi deeper than he thought, and this was the first time Erwin used his set to drink tea.

            Levi thought that it was nice of him to respect his cups so tenderly. Over his own cup, Levi hid a small smirk.

            Unamused, Erwin grunted.

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, slightly miffed.

            A few days ago, Eren had accidentally convinced Levi to buy a TV (“accidentally” because Eren had mentioned wanting one, and Levi had heeded the urge to buy one afterwards), and it was now playing in the background in the living room. It was currently on the news channel since that was the only one that interested Levi out of all of the rest. He had found it pretty amusing when they started to talk about the weather. There was always so much indignation and confusion when talking about it recently that it had served as a form of humor for Levi. Eren always shook his head at Levi when he noticed how amused it made him, slightly scolding. But there was always humor on his face and maybe a tad bit of adoration that made him feel slightly guilty.

            Thinking of the brat…. Wasn’t it almost time for him to come back from work?

            Levi looked at the clock over the fridge.

            It was around 10. He still had time.

            Besides, he should safely be at work.

            So Levi settled comfortably on the sofa, dozing off a little as the background noise of the reporters droning on settled him into a tender nap.

            Levi didn’t know for how long he slept.

            It could have been a few minutes. Or maybe a few hours.

            As he slept, his expectation when he woke up was to find Eren sitting next to him, going through his recently-acquired phone. The boy had been so excited when he had bought it because it had been the most expensive thing he had gotten after he got a job. Eren had taken to sitting with Levi and watching TV with him, so Levi had gotten used to presence so close to him quickly.

            It had been in those moments of watching TV together that Levi often thought about his past. About his sister. And the prince. As he saw idols on TV—young ones…old… He wondered if they were both fine.

            He wondered if they were alive in this lifetime. Or if he had missed them years ago. Or maybe they weren’t born yet. Did they look different? Were they the same?

            And Levi slept.

            Just for a while, he dreamt of his past. The memories were still there, after all. They never left.

            The pain—the anger—everything… He kept it all.

            Would Levi lose everything in this life, too?

            In his sleep, a sudden burst of pain like fire choked him out of his state, and his whole body involuntarily pushed forward. He didn’t fall off of the sofa, but Levi was clutching with his fingers at the leather. His right hand dug into the armrest, and he was breathing hard, his vision spotty.

            And he knew exactly why.

            His fingers were trembling, but, in the periphery of his vision, he saw as Erwin staggered down the stairs. His black hat was present. His reaper one.

            And Levi knew.

            Reaching forward, Erwin handed Levi the card. He was attempting to control his breathing, and, although he was known for keeping his composure, this was the first time that Levi had seen him so flustered. Eren had become as special to him as he was to Levi.

            And that card in between his fingers. Red letters. Eren’s name. And the time.

            “10 minutes,” Erwin grimaced. “This is the first time it’s come so last-minute, but he’s dead in 10 minutes.”

            And Levi should have been feeling that ache. The one that always called him to Eren, but it was gone. He couldn’t feel it.

            As Levi ran, he went to the only immediate place where he knew Eren could be.

            The shop where Eren worked.

            But, as he approached the place, a sign—CLOSED, it said.

            Eren must have left. He had to have left and gotten caught on his way home.

            And fuck. Levi couldn’t think. His heart was still trying to catch up.

            It felt like it was near his throat. Growing larger and choking his breathing.

            Where could he go?

            How could he find him?

            Levi had counted on being able to feel when Eren was in danger, and he had felt the forceful tug—but that had been where it ended. He couldn’t feel him now. He didn’t know where he was.

            And Levi was about to wilt.

            He was going crazy.

            There were so many thoughts. As he ran down the way towards the bus area, thinking that maybe there had been the possibility of another bus accident again—thinking that maybe he had missed it—

            The roads were calm. Pedestrians went on their way. One bus departed.

            Levi didn’t know what to do.

            And life kept moving, and Levi breathed.

            He wanted to stop breathing.

            He wanted to end it all.

            And, as the minutes ticked by, mocking him—maybe it was his desperation or his begging, Levi saw an image.

            Eren. His eyes were closed, and the area around him was dark, but it was cold. There was blood pooling near his head as the metal storing structure behind held him in place on the floor, crushing him.

            Levi saw bags. Chicken storage containers.

            And fuck if Levi ever travelled back so quickly.

            He was in the shop.

            He had only been in here once before. Just to see how Eren was doing. And he had found him smiling pleasantly with a woman with dark hair. She had been facing away from him, so he didn’t have the chance to see her face. He hadn’t cared then. He had just cared about the enthralling smile on that boy’s face. He was so full of life…beautiful.

            Levi knew where he was. He knew where to find him.

            And, as he pulled up the heavy structure, putting it back it its place and finding the injured boy underneath—Levi knew exactly what he had to do.

            An inch within death, Eren didn’t move from where he lay, and Levi knelt next to him.

            And Levi had a déjà vu. He had only saved one person from death before. Only once. Because he knew that the reapers hated it and would give him shit about it. He had saved Eren’s mother back then on a whim. But this was the man he loved.

            And, as light flowed from his fingers and into Eren’s skin, Levi made a choice.

            If this was what it meant to almost lose someone again…If he could do nothing about it…

            Levi had become cocky, thinking that he could beat the gods and be greedy by wanting everything.

            Well. Now that would end.

            From here on out, he would end it all.

 

X

 

**Eren**

            He was in a lull. Calm, fine…

            He thought that he was dead for a second. Or more like a few minutes, but he was full of sensation. His body was heavy, yeah, but there was an ache. Right on his head. And that annoying beeping wouldn’t stop.

            But he was warm. He could feel the soft, thin sheets around his body. And that smell. That smell… Like antibiotics. Like forced neutrality.

            As Eren forced himself to wake, to blink, he realized that he was also feeling something else.

            Or more like someone else.

            That someone was holding onto his hand strongly. Rigidly. Hanging onto him. Not letting go. Desperate.

            And Eren knew who it was. There was only one person who would care that much.

            As he opened his eyes, he saw that he was right.

            Levi held onto his hand, unwilling to let go, almost as if he were hanging onto the edge of his sanity.  

            The man looked tired, eye bags visible underneath his eyes, his hand almost digging into his hair. He looked unkept, something that was very unusual for him and out of character.

            Eren, feeling a little guilty at seeing him like this, smiled a little to diffuse the tense air.

            “Hey,” he croaked, noticing that, outside, the windows were dark. It had to be late. “You’re not allowed in here, are you?” Eren was teasing, but he was surprised at the lack of emotion in Levi’s voice.

            “No,” he said. And that was it. There was nothing else.

            Eren knew that he was in a hospital, although he had no idea for how long. Levi didn’t look like he wanted to explain, too.

            Eren coughed awkwardly, one of the fingers in the hand that Levi was holding twitching uncomfortably. As if suddenly noticing that he was holding his hand, Levi flinched, moving his hand away as if it were on fire.

            Startled a little by his odd behavior, Eren attempted to sit up a little. He grimaced at the aches down his back, but it was bearable. He just wanted to get rid of this strange air.

            “Hey…” Eren’s voice trailed a little. “Hey, are you alright?”

            Levi sniffed, as if a small laugh, but it was mocking and without humor.

            “You’re the one in a hospital bed,” he jeered, lifting himself up from his seat and running his fingers through his hair. As if impatient, he was sighing underneath his breath. He began to pace back and forth, the veins on his muscular forearms prominent, almost as if her were stressed.

            Eren just watched, not really knowing what to do with what was in front of him.

            That’s why it startled him when Levi suddenly shouted at him.

            “Eren,” Levi snapped. “I’ve waited a long time, so I need you to do this now.”

            Eren felt a little winded. He held back the jitters of nerves suddenly becoming beehives in his chest.

            Without giving Eren much time to react, Levi pushed forward. Eren released a startled yelp when Levi grabbed onto his arms, forcing them towards the hit of the sword buried on his chest. It was heavy. It was hot underneath his fingertips, as if life was breathing from it and into Eren’s fingers.

            Levi’s teeth were gritted, and, as Eren’s eyes remained wide and staring straight into those silver eyes, he was frightened. He wanted to curl up in the bed, away from those eyes. Away from the darkness in them.

            “Take it out,” Levi hissed. His words were a clear order. They were a demand, but Eren was confused.

            Why was he bringing this up now?

            Rapidly, Eren yanked his hands away from him, curling his fists over his lap.

            After the initial shock of having been manhandled settled, there was a twist in his gut. A tornado of anger that jolted him into a seating position. His posture became defensive.

            Why was Levi being so strange?

            Why—

            “I’m not going to do it,” Eren growled. His eyebrows were furrowed, and, next to him, his fists were clenched over the hospital bed sheets.

            “I don’t know what you’re keeping from me, but I won’t be your fool anymore.”

            Levi was gritting his teeth, his face contorting in rage.

            Pushing himself forward, he grabbed Eren’s hands and attempted to force them to hold the sword on his chest again.

            “Take it out, Eren,” he ordered. “Pull the sword out.”

            Eren struggled to get away, and the heart monitor next to him was going crazy.

            Something wasn’t right.

            He hated this. Why was Levi acting this way?

            Why was he looking at him like that?

            Why did he look like he wanted to cry?

            “No,” Eren resolutely hissed. “Let go. Let go now. I won’t do shit until you tell me what is going on.”

            And, with those words, the sword in between Levi’s chest glinted once before becoming transparent again.

            And Levi’s eyes wouldn’t leave his own. He was staring him down, angry, and Eren hated it. He could feel the fire in his chest. The urge to punch something. Eren didn’t know why Levi was being like this, but he knew that things weren’t adding up. Levi was hiding something from him. He had been hiding something from him since the moment they met, and he didn’t want to tell him.

            But Eren had to know.

            His head was hurting, and Eren knew that it wouldn’t do him any good to shout, but he wanted to. He wanted to scream at Levi and throw things—wanted Levi to react to him.

            But he also wanted Levi to understand him.

            The feeling of comfort—of the idea that he belonged at Levi’s side—it was there. And he wanted Levi to understand it. He wanted Levi to accept it. To accept him. Maybe if he would tell him he would understand.

            So he tried a different approach. One not led by his usual bouts of anger.

            Eren’s words were halted. Hesitant.

            Choked.

            “Levi…Levi, I—I know that you’re keeping things from me, but I… I want to help you, okay? It’s just…”

            Eren grimaced a little. “I’m sorry if this might come out a little strange, but…”

            He didn’t how else to put this, but he had to get it out. He had to make Levi understand.

            Levi had always listened to him. Had always told him what was the best step to take.

            “It’s almost as if…” he trailed off a little. But then he started again, watching as Levi’s eyes didn’t stray from his face. “It’s almost as if, without you, my existence doesn’t really have a point. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m your bride or whatever other shit, but I just want you to know that I need you. I need you with me, so please accept me.”

            Levi’s eyes were wide. He was clearly shocked, and, when Eren had mentioned that his existence didn’t have a point without him, he had taken a step back, almost as if he wanted to flee.

            Eren tried not to be discouraged.

            He needed to get it out. Needed to tell him.

            And he did.

            “I—I love you, okay? I love you.”

            And Eren’s words were choked, but they were true. They were exactly what he had wanted to tell Levi for the months that he had known him. Especially these last weeks. He was about to go crazy from his emotions.

            And, for a few seconds, Levi just stood there. Looking down at him.

            Then he was bolting out the door, leaving his black coat behind.

            For a few seconds, Eren stared at the closed door.

            Levi had left.

            He had left him.

            And, without thinking, Eren was shakily hurrying to get out of bed, a limp run towards the door. But, of course, the hallway was empty. It was empty except for one man that waited at the door.

            His arms were folded in front of his chest, and he wore that strange black hat.

            Those blue eyes slowly fell towards Eren’s shaking figure.

            “Levi just left, didn’t he,” Erwin asked. He wasn’t curious. He was just asking what he already knew.

            “I saw the door fly open,” he continued. He was nicely not pointing out the fact that Eren looked like a real mess, but, surprisingly, he lightly grabbed onto Eren’s elbow so that he could bring some support. Eren looked like was about to fall over.

            So Erwin led Eren back to bed, trying to ignore the fact that Eren was shaking in his hold, his bare feet stumbling on the cold cement.

            After Eren was safely in bed, Erwin took the seat Levi had left behind.

            He looked a little out of place, almost awkward in his movements. He was clearly out of his element. He had never tried to comfort someone genuinely, so he coughed a little to hide his awkwardness. But Eren’s eyes didn’t leave his figure. Eren knew.

            By the way that Erwin fidgeted in his seat, Eren knew that he had everything.

            “You know what that sword is, don’t you?” Eren asked. His voice was hard, resolute. After coming to terms that Levi had fled, he was attempting to bring himself back together. But now he needed facts. He needed to know why.

            At his question, Erwin grimaced a little, but he didn’t say a word.

            He hadn’t expected to be interrogated. He had just wanted to see if the boy was fine.

            “You know what happens after I take it out, don’t you?” Eren pushed. “Tell me. If you know, tell me now.”

            Erwin wasn’t usually loose-lipped.

            He held to himself, not wanting to upset the balance.

            But this balance was too unequal.

            Levi had everything he needed to make his choices, but Eren didn’t have any.

            Although Levi had confided in him, Erwin knew that he had the choice to hand Eren his choices. But did he really want to spill the secrets Levi had hid for all of these months?

            Were they really his secrets to tell?

            But Eren needed to know. He had to—

            “Erwin,” Eren’s voice was demanding, but it was also begging. Desperate. “Tell me, Erwin. I can’t continue if I don’t have that information.”

            That was it. That was what he needed to hear.

            And so Erwin spilled. Hesitantly, yeah, but he told the truth. Eren deserved to know.

            He told Eren of the powers behind the sword. Although he didn’t know the past that had gotten Levi into this mess, he told Eren that Levi was cursed. He told him that the gods had forced him to remain alive, seeing others die around him. He told him that Levi’s only way to die was through that sword. The only person that could save him was his bride. The Goblin’s Bride.

            He also told him that the gods had told Levi that, if he didn’t die, Eren would die instead.

            After it all, Eren lay on that bed, his body limp.

            Erwin stayed a while longer. It might have been a few minutes later, but, as he got up to leave, Eren thanked him.

            After he left, Eren stayed awake for a while longer.

            He was tired. The sides of his head were aching. He was uncomfortable in his position, but he didn’t want to move. All the while, Eren remained thinking.

            And, after all that thinking, Eren knew how he would respond.

            Eren wasn’t a murderer. He wasn’t going to take Levi away from life.

            He was going to repay the man that had saved his life so many times from death.

            He was going to repay his debt.

            And, to do it, he had to leave.

            And death would come for him instead.


	9. Chapter 9

**Levi**

 

            “Eren is missing,” Erwin informed as he crossed through the door the next morning.

            As soon as that comment had entered Levi’s mind, he lifted himself up from his mourning bed, his heart jumping at his throat. Erwin stopped him before he walked too far, placing a stern hand on his chest.

            “Give him some time to think at least,” he said lightly. “After last night, he deserves it.”

            Tilting his head, Erwin assessed Levi’s expression, then—“You do, too,” he conveyed, like an afterthought.

            And Erwin left. Not before hesitating for a little and biting his lip as if he felt guilty and had to tell him something. But then he was out the door.

            Erwin really was an asshole when it came to these things. He really shouldn’t have told Levi that Eren was gone, but now he had and now all that he would think about was Eren.

            Eren.

            Eren. Eren, that idiot.

            The more that Levi thought about that night, the more that he really didn’t want to think anymore.

            Levi had realized then that he had been too overconfident about his skills—about his being able to feel when Eren was in danger—about his ability to save him. Eren had come so close to death because Levi hadn’t been careful enough.

            Eren had almost died because Levi had been selfish.

            Levi had wanted to live and have him, but now he realized that he couldn’t have both.

            The gods wouldn’t allow him that.

            Levi had been about to give away his opportunity to die—to get rid of the centuries of torture and death—for this one man. He had been about to get rid of his ticket out because he wanted the love that Eren could offer.

            However, Levi had realized that Eren’s life was more precious than his selfishness.

            Yes, he wanted Eren, but, above everything else, Levi wanted Eren to live. He wanted him to learn, to grow, to experience what it was actually like to be human.

            Levi didn’t want to take that away.

            That’s why he realized that there were only two choices now.

            One: have Eren take out the sword and keep him safe, or two:…stay alive and lose Eren early in the process.

            Levi didn’t have any guarantees, and time was running out.

            It was this last thought that brought him downstairs.

            He would get himself together before he looked for him.

            He would give Eren some time to think, but it couldn’t be too much.

            Levi had made up his mind, and he really didn’t want Eren to convince him otherwise.

 

X

 

            Levi reached the shop around late afternoon.

            It was still cold out. He wore his gloves, and he had jacked Erwin’s jacket on his way out. Levi couldn’t remember where he had left his black coat after the mess from last night.

            It had stopped snowing, but Levi had been grateful that the weather had kept itself calm. The rain from last night had become slippery ice, and Levi was at least grateful that Eren hadn’t had to see and experience his rocky emotions. Lately, Levi had really been out of control. Eren didn’t have to see any more of that vulnerability so easily visible in the air outside.

            Opening the door to get out of the cold, Levi heard a bell over his head. He stepped inside, looking for a mop of brown hair and a pair of teal eyes. Instead, he heard a “welcome” and saw the back of the head of a woman’s black hair.

            It was neatly picked up in a ponytail.

            Levi coughed, half trying to get her full attention and half just wanting to ask where Eren was. This was the only place that Levi could think to ask, as Eren loved to work here, always telling him how much he loved the owner.

            Levi figured that he might have asked her for help in his escape from the hospital.

            “I’ll be right with you in a second,” the woman affirmed as she continued to write on her board, adding some finishing touches.  

            A little impatient but willing to wait, Levi stood a few feet away from the counter. He busied himself by looking around the shop, trying to not let a grimace show on his face as he saw the notorious fridge door again. He tried to will the memories away…the red underneath Eren’s head, his pale face….those closed eyes and that unresponsive skin.

            Gratefully, a voice broke into his thoughts, and the woman was turning towards him, asking him what he wanted to order.

            As Levi turned towards her, he felt his eyes widen. And maybe it was a trick of the light, but he saw as her eyes did the same, a gasp caught in her throat.

            It couldn’t be.

            She couldn’t remember him, could she?

            It had been centuries, but she looked the same. Her hair was longer. She was elegant in her movements—strong—she had always been strong, but—she was more feminine in the way that she moved. Lightly. Aware of her figure.

            Levi managed to hold it in, but he choked in the inside.

            It had been so long.

            It had been so long, and he hadn’t seen her grow as much as he would have wanted to, but…

            His sister was exactly how he remembered her.

            It was taking Levi a few moments to get himself together, but he rapidly noticed that he was not the only one.

            “L-Levi?” Mikasa asked in disbelief. “Are you really Levi?”

 

X

 

            Levi still had the scroll in his room. He had kept it since he had first awoken and gone back to the palace. He had come back to find everyone dead. His sister dead. The prince dead.

            He had come back to fire and the palace in a wreck, but what he came to find was gone.

            Before he could become angry at the injustice of his death, he had been led into a room that held the prince’s body.

            His face had been unrecognizable as it had been mutilated in anger.

            His fancy robes were torn, reddened.

            Levi had gone back home to find that things had been torn down there as well. Not by fire, but with age and poverty. What had once been a home that he had shared with his sister was now remnants of that past, old and worn.

            After that, he had decided to leave that past behind. He took only a few things with him, and one of those had been that scroll—a picture of his sister forever depicting her young image.

            With the passing of years, he hadn’t opened it as often. He hadn’t wanted to damage it since it was so old. He had kept it safe for a long time so that he could open it when he needed to see her the most.  

            But now she was here. Right in front of him. Drinking coffee as if they did this often in this world. As if they hadn’t gone through hell all of those centuries ago.

            Levi coughed, still in shock as he stared at her. He had been doing that for a while, but it seemed as if she didn’t mind. If anything, she did the same to him, although her expression was one of wonder.

            She had put the “CLOSED” sign up on the door, so it was just the two of them, equally appraising each other.

            “You—” Levi was still not sure how to get his thoughts together. “You—how—how do you remember me?” he finally asked. He had asked for a cup of tea, and he hadn’t had any yet. It hadn’t gotten cold, but he had been distracted by other things. To attempt to calm himself down a little, he attempted to drink from it now, but his hands were shaking.

            “I chose to remember,” she answered cryptically, but Levi remembered back when Erwin had invited him into his teahouse. That cup. The one that made humans forget.

            Mikasa had chosen to remember.

            She had chosen to remember her past.

            Her brother…she had chosen to remember him. To remember his death and her years of pain after. Her own death.

            She had chosen to not drink that offered cup.

            “Is your name still Mikasa in this life?” Levi asked, his hold on his cup tightening a little.

            He didn’t know this Mikasa after all.

            Did she still want to remember these things from all of those years ago?

            She smiled sheepishly.

            “That’s actually not my name in this lifetime,” she admitted, “but I really want you to use it.”

            Levi lifted up a brow in a bit of confusion.

            “But doesn’t Eren call you Mikasa?” he asked, and she nodded.

            “Yes,” she revealed. “I don’t usually ask people to call me by the name my parents gave me in this life. I’ve always felt more like Mikasa anyway.”

            She smiled a little.

            Her eyes held worlds of emotion. There was a light in her eyes. A childish but sad light. Levi wanted to joke it away like old times.

            “You look like you’ve been through a lot,” Mikasa teased, her nose wrinkling. “You haven’t changed one bit, though.”

            Levi chuckled, noticing as he became calm underneath those piercing eyes. He was starting to become more comfortable with seeing her in front of him like this. His fingers twitched for a split second with the urge to embrace her.

            Levi cleared his throat, attempting to get his thoughts in order.

            He needed to get things together. He wanted to ask about the past…about how she was in this life…so many things. He felt that there would be time for it. He just needed to allow himself the time to sit down with her and talk things through.

            There was one immediate question taking over.

            One that he had been curious about for a while.

            “Have you seen him?” Levi asked, holding his cup a little tighter. He had placed it down before he asked the question. His fingers were shaking slightly.

            Mikasa knew exactly who he was talking about, and her smile faded into a thin line. Her eyes were downcast.

            “Once,” she admitted. “It wasn’t for too long, and I’m not sure if it was actually him, but…” She bit her lip. She seemed unsure.

            “I think that it was him…I saw him when my grandmother passed. He was there one second and the other he wasn’t. He was wearing all black, and he wore a hat.”

            Levi was starting to have inklings of a thought.

            There wasn’t only one reaper in this world, but this sounded very much like one.

            Levi hummed, a sound from deep in his throat. His thoughts were jumping onto an individual with blue eyes and stern features—a little naïve in his mannerisms but detached when it came to others.

            Before he let that thought stray too far, he decided to ask what he had been here for originally.

            Mikasa had been surprised at the request, and she had been slightly on the defensive, but Levi didn’t blame her. He just needed to prove that he didn’t want to bring Eren any harm. He just wanted to see him and speak to him.

            He admitted to her that they had gotten into an argument, and he wanted to fix it.

            She bent, and she revealed that Eren had come to her in the morning to ask for help. She told him where he was, and Levi went on his way, promising to catch her for a coffee again.

            He needed to keep that promise. At least one time before he left.

 

X

 

**Eren**

            “I’d be really grateful if you left, thanks,” Eren grumbled as he lay sprawled on the sofa in Mikasa’s living room. Armin was softly running his hands over Eren’s hair while Eren rested his head on his lap.

            There was another ghost in the room, and Eren wasn’t sure why, but this ghost had a dark energy around her, surrounding her body. She had been clinging onto him since Eren had released himself from the hospital. He kept flinching away from her touch, and he’d had the strong urge to slap her hand away various times.

            She was currently staring at him from her spot on the other side of the room, softly leaning on her hand to fix on two dull, black eyes on him. They were devoid of light, and there was a grin on her face. A grin that Eren wasn’t sure meant anything good.

            “You’re going to die soon,” she stated with that same grin, her eyes unblinking.

            From where he was, Armin straightened up with an angry frown.

            “Shut up and leave,” he ordered. “You’re not welcome here.”

            Eren rolled his eyes. He had updated Armin on everything, and, ever since then, he had become more defensive. Armin had told him that things weren’t right recently. He’d mentioned that ghosts with strange energies had started to appear around the area. These ghosts didn’t seem as if they should be there.

            It seemed wrong.

            “Don’t we all die, though,” Eren mused, watching her from the corner of his eyes.

            She had ignored Armin in his attempt to get rid of her again. At Eren’s statement, she fixed her eyes on him again.

            “Oh, darling,” she snickered. “Yours is approaching very soon.”

            At that comment, Eren’s brows furrowed. It was then that the door slammed open and Levi was stepping in, sure in his movements. Startled at the sudden entrance, Eren sat up and squealed, hitting Armin’s chin on the process. He almost missed when the girl ghost flinched and then faded away, as if the sight of Levi had made her flee.

            “Fuck!” Eren shouted, clutching at his heart. “What the fuck, Levi?!”

            Levi seemed almost sheepish, but his eyes caught on the sight of Eren wearing his black coat over his chest. He caught himself in surprise, but the corner of his lips twitched in amusement.

            “I’m here to get you,” Levi asserted, straightening up Erwin’s jacket. It almost overwhelmed the size of his body, something that unwillingly set Eren’s cheeks reddening. He looked so cute, but he had to remember to be angry.

            Just remembering that made him sit up straight, away from Armin, who was watching Levi with wary eyes.

            “How did you find me?” Eren hissed, furrowing his eyebrows. Levi looked a little bored, but there was a spark in his eyes. A memory.

            “Mikasa told me where you were,” he admitted, closing the door behind him so that the cold air wouldn’t come in. He walked a little forward until he was right in front of Eren, looking down at him.

            Eren looked betrayed at the reveal, and he pouted, looking away from Levi.

            “I told her not to tell you,” he huffed, upset. He should’ve known better than trying to escape Levi so close to home. His eyes met Levi’s again, but he was brooding. His arms wrapped in front of him.

            “That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to go anywhere with you. You should leave.”

            Levi sighed, closing his eyes as if he were thinking over everything. It wasn’t that what surprised Eren but what came later, as Levi crouched down and placed his hands on Eren’s knees.

            “Eren,” he whispered, squeezing the top of his knees lightly. “I’m sorry, okay? I just…it’s complicated, okay? I just need you to…” Levi bit his bottom lip. Having found his sister by accident, Levi was even more aware of the choice that he wanted to make. He needed to do this before it became an even larger problem. He needed to do this before it hurt even more.

            “Just…I’m not going to lie to you anymore, okay?” Levi looked up into Eren’s eyes. He almost got lost in them, flecks of gold resting over the green. They were gorgeous eyes. Eyes that showed exactly how beautiful Eren was. He hadn’t wanted to tell Eren the truth because there could be the possibility that Eren wouldn’t want to do it, but… Well, maybe he could lie in a different way? He had asked Erwin ages ago to erase Eren’s memories if the sword got taken out, but everything was still unplanned.

            But did planning matter when you were dead?

            “I know,” Eren snapped, but it wasn’t hostile. Just annoyed. It was almost as if he could feel what Levi was thinking. “I know that you won’t lie to me because I won’t let you. Don’t pull the wool over my eyes, Levi. Erwin told me what will happen if I take that thing out.”

            At that, Levi’s eyes opened in shock. His hold on Eren’s legs tightened, and his gaze didn’t leave Eren’s. They were searching. No wonder Erwin had looked so guilty that morning. He had known what his actions had caused.

            Eren’s eyes were rigid, determined.

            “I won’t do it,” he said. “I’m not going to kill you.”

            Those words made Levi’s heart slow down. Slow down tremendously, as if he were trying to comprehend his words.

            It wasn’t that Eren was escaping him because he had feared Levi’s rejection. He had left because he hadn’t wanted to do what Levi wanted him to.

            “Eren,” Levi sternly scolded, irritated. “Do you understand exactly why I’m asking you to do this?”

            Eren huffed, looking away from the figure in front of him.

            “Don’t say that it’s for my good,” he ordered, upset. “Erwin told me that you spoke to that God or whatever but I don’t care. I—” his voice broke. “I don’t want to take away your chance at life.”

            Levi sighed, rubbing one hand over his eyes. He sounded tired.

            “Eren, I’ve lived for hundreds of years. Did you ever think—for one second—that I wanted any more than that? You haven’t even had a chance at life. I don’t want to take that away.”

            Eren didn’t respond, stubbornly looking at a spot on the wall. In the corner of his eye, he saw as Armin slipped away, giving them some privacy.

            “Look—” Levi just sounded so tired. There was ages of repressed pain in his voice. “Do you know what I felt that night?”

            He didn’t seem undeterred by Eren’s lack of response, but he kept staring at Eren’s face.

            “I was naïve, okay? I thought that I could save you—that I could defeat the gods, but…” Levi bit his lip, his eyes lowering towards those blue jeans, where he was holding on tightly to Eren’s knee.

            “I couldn’t feel you that night,” Levi admitted. “I counted on being able to feel when you are in danger and being able to reach you rapidly, but… I couldn’t.” It hurt to admit it. It hurt a lot. He wasn’t mortal, at least not by any means yet, but… he was still powerless when it came to these things.

            “The thing is…” Levi wasn’t sure if he was ready to admit it, but he had to tell him. He knew that he had to tell him.

            “The thing is… if I lose you, I’m not sure if I can take it.”

            His voice wavered, and his hands were shaking. He wasn’t looking at Eren anymore. Just at the floor. He felt vulnerable, exposed, and he had never felt this bared off to anyone before. He felt powerless. Useless.

            Just one of the many.

            However, as Eren slowly reached forward and took Levi’s hands in his, brushing his lips over his palms, Levi felt his world still. Softly. Grounded. That’s how he felt.

            Eren kissed the top of Levi’s hands over his fingers. His lips were soft and a little wet.

            He met Levi’s confused gaze.

            “If it makes any difference,” he said, “I feel the same way… I can’t lose you, okay, Levi? I feel that I wouldn’t be able to take it, either.”

            Levi felt himself straightening up to argue, but, before he could do anything, Eren was reaching forward, his hands cupping Levi’s cheeks. And, as Levi’s eyes widened, Eren kissed him.

            He was unexperienced, and he stumbled, but he was eager, passionate, and Levi melted into his embrace. He held onto Eren’s shoulders to hold himself together and he responded in kind, but his lips softly opened Eren’s, savoring, wanting everything. Exploring everything. Wanting to keep him forever. Just for him.

            “Promise me,” Eren gasped, attempting to recapture his breath as Levi’s eyes burned into him, entranced. “Promise me that you won’t leave me. Promise me that that you will stay with me, Levi.”

            And Levi gasped that promise, too.

            “I won’t leave you,” he said.

            I won’t leave you.

            Just as long as you never leave me.

 

X

 

            Eren thought that things might become awkward after their kiss. He was so giddy, unable to keep that stupid smile off of his face (something that Armin didn’t fail to mention thousands of times), and he was sure that he would make a fool of himself, but—

            On their way home, Levi held his hand, and Eren hid his reddened face with his scarf.

            Levi’s hand was firm in its grip, sure, and Eren felt like a bumbling fool.

            In the days that followed, Levi didn’t change much. At least, not in his routines and his mannerisms anyway. He still drank tea while he read. He still sat on that same spot on the sofa, busy in his reading and then immersed as he watched television.

            He still cooked at the same time. That delicious food and wearing that apron that Eren had once thought was funny.

            He was still the same, yeah, but Eren noticed things.

            While Levi would read his book on the sofa, Eren would sneak up on him and then rest his head on his lap. Levi was usually very elegant in the way he moved, but Eren would pretend not to notice the way he slightly straightened up even further underneath Eren’s touch. He would clear his throat with a cough and slightly tilt his book so that Eren wouldn’t see his face. But Eren would smile curiously, move his gaze towards shivering, soft lips and reddened cheeks.

            Levi, Eren noticed, was very awkward in expressing his emotions.

            Especially when it came to him, and that pleased him more than it probably should have.

            When Levi cooked, Eren would approach silently and wrap his arms around the smaller figure, chuckling inwardly as he would startle and let out a yelp. In those moments, his voice was gruff and annoyed, but the manner in which he would chide him was endearing.

            Eren noticed that it flustered Levi immensely to show certain vulnerable parts of himself. So he attempted to uncover them all.

            Above everything, Eren loved to kiss him.

            Levi might be distracted with something and Eren would softly kiss his cheek. The first times made Eren timid, and sometimes Levi would respond in kind. However, the more Eren repeated his routine, he would become bolder. Levi warmed up to these advances to the point where he was used to Eren coming down every morning and giving him a kiss on his lips.

            Levi had become so comfortable in fact, that it was sometimes him that deepened those kisses.

            He would grab the back of Eren’s neck and pull him forward, holding on to Eren’s shirt with his other hand. In these moments, Levi was immersed, attentive of the movements of Eren’s lips against his. He was careful. He didn’t just take, he gave all that he had, and, every time Levi would commence these occasions, Eren was left breathless.

            Before it got too far, Levi would always stop, and Eren was always left wanting more. Just like now.

            “That’s as far as you’re going tonight, brat.”

            Levi bopped Eren’s head with his book, and Eren, a little surprised, found himself accidentally falling forward into Levi’s chest. His nose burrowed in the scent of chamomile tea and cherry blossoms on his shirt.

            Levi was looking down at him, a small smirk gracing his features.

            His eyes were surprisingly soft, even though his lips were pink from all of that kissing.

            That asshole. He definitely knew what he was doing.

            Eren pouted, but he was not about to go against Levi’s will.

            “Fine,” he pouted petulantly, but he rested his head on Levi’s lap, closing his eyes. He decided to revel in this moment. In Levi’s closeness. In the warmth of his body. It was very peaceful. Eren didn’t have to worry about anything else because he was safe in Levi’s proximity. In his nirvana, he barely noticed as Erwin passed by, shot them a glance, and then went back upstairs. Erwin hadn’t seemed surprised by their getting together. If anything, he seemed relieved that they had managed to fix at least some of their problems.

            Levi hummed underneath his breath, and Eren’s gaze was hazy. He was drifting off, and Levi was softly running his hand through his hair. He held some of the strands in between his hands, as if feeling the texture and enjoying the softness of it. It was making Eren so calm, so drowsy. His body felt light, and he really didn’t want to move.

            “Did I ever tell you how I became a goblin?” Levi asked softly, not ceasing in his movements.

            Eren hummed his no from within his throat.

            At his reply, Levi let down his book, just concentrating on keeping Eren content. He rested one hand underneath his jaw, caressing softly. Eren was youthful, so his stubble hadn’t grown too much yet, but Levi could feel traces of it.

            He wanted Eren to grow old. He wanted him to grow old with him, to see him grow. He wanted to be beside him as he became a man. Levi wanted to see the man he would grow up to be.

            As Levi calmly described his past, Eren listened without interrupting.

            His sleep had left him halfway through, but he was still resting his head on Levi’s lap. Now, however, it was Eren that began to caress Levi’s thigh, as if telling him that it was alright to continue.

            At the end of it, Eren was silent, going through everything in his head.

            “Well,” Eren released a breath, “the Gods really suck.”

            “Shh,” Levi let out a shocked chuckle.

            “It’s true, though,” Eren said nonchalantly. He turned so that he could look at Levi’s face.

            Levi could tell that he wanted to say something, but, instead, Eren pursed his lips and reached towards his face. He ran his thumb over Levi’s jawline and not once did his gaze leave him. It was a tender gaze, but those green eyes were so strong. They didn’t waver.

            “I think that I’m in love with you,” Eren whispered.

            Levi raised an eyebrow, but he chuckled a reply.

            “You think?” he teased, and Eren growled, pulling himself up so that he could straddle Levi’s lap. Levi just smiled in retaliation, placing his hands on Eren’s hips while Eren pushed Levi’s shoulders back onto the sofa.

            “You shush,” Eren pouted, but there was humor in his eyes. The manner in which he openly stared at Levi’s lips was starting to make Levi blush, and he couldn’t have that. So, without further ado, he bit his lip and grabbed Eren’s hips harder, causing Eren to yelp in embarrassment as he pulled him forward so that their lips could meet.

            “If it makes any difference,” Levi teased, after he had left Eren breathless and red-faced once again, “I think that I love you, too.”

            “Cheeky old man,” Eren huffed, deciding to comfort himself by stealing Levi’s lips once again.

 

X

 

**Levi**

 

            Levi had his suspicions of things. He’d had many chances to do things, to change the course of the future—but there were things that were tied to his past that he could never change.

            The Gods liked to play games.

            They had a timing—a way to do things—that usually had those involved become tangled with each other.

            Levi realized, or more like, he had a suspicion that Erwin was one of those things that had gotten tangled with him in their game.

            He didn’t know what he would do if those worries were true, and he didn’t know what he would do if they were…But he still wanted to know.

            He wanted to be sure. He wanted to have that one thing solved.

            To be left behind him, if it could.

            To confirm that suspicion, he wanted to have Erwin meet Mikasa. The thing was…he didn’t know what to do if those suspicions were correct and she reacted badly to it.

            He had coffee with her.

            Once.

            Twice.

            Three times.

            She was still as lovely as he remembered. She wasn’t always charming, but she was always sure of herself and her stance within the world.

            She loved what had made her what she was.

            She was wiser than her years, sure-footed.

            She didn’t hide what she wanted from life, and Levi really admired her for that.

            She had grown to love Eren, it looked like, although her love was more of a tender, protective, sisterly love. Mikasa teased Eren a lot, and Eren would respond in kind. What Levi appreciated the most was how easily she allowed him to fit in between both of them.

            She actually joked about them both a lot.

            “My brother’s boyfriend” on both sides.

            She saw Eren as a brother, but Levi had been her brother from lives past. She liked to bring it up every once in a while.

            Eren adjusted to it pretty well, too.

            So Levi calmed down and felt comfortable.

            He felt like this was his family. This was the family that he had to protect.

            The lovely portrait of them all together—Mikasa laughing at one of Eren’s lame jokes, Levi smiling as he placed his arm behind on the back of Eren’s chair…

            Yes, Levi was sure that this was where he wanted to end.

            These moments were perfect to him.

            In the end, it wasn’t him that brought up Erwin, it was actually Eren.

            The thing about Eren was that he loved to sneak in pictures. He liked to catch Levi by surprise whenever he was reading or conversing and filter him into little animals. Levi would sometimes catch him cackling to himself as he fidgeted with his phone.

            It wasn’t a surprise to find out that he also liked to do that to Erwin.

            In his attempt to show Mikasa one of his pictures, Mikasa had recognized the blonde man and had grabbed Eren’s arm.

            “Eren,” she forced out. “Eren, who is that man?”

            Eren looked caught off guard, but he replied.

            “That’s Erwin,” Eren said hesitantly.

            Mikasa looked up then and caught Levi’s gaze.

            Levi knew then that his suspicions had been right.

            The Gods were assholes.

            “That’s him,” Mikasa said. “That’s him, Levi.”

           

X

 

            The days after were so strange.

            He felt distracted, so he clung onto Eren like a life source.

            What he kept on wondering, however, was if Erwin could remember. He was wary around him, but he didn’t feel as if he were in danger. He was just wondering if Erwin had been lying to them all of this time.

            It was on those days that things began to take a turn for the worse.

            He had been kissing Eren when his eyes had settled on his mark.

            At first, he had thought that he had imagined it, but, when he looked again, he realized that he had been right. He froze up, placing his hand on Eren’s back to force him upright.

            “Stop for a second,” Levi ordered. Eren had started kissing Levi’s jawline before he commanded him to stop, so he also froze, wondering if he had done something wrong.

            “What is it, Levi?” he asked, confusion tainting his voice.

            He adjusted Eren’s body so that he could see the mark on the side of his neck clearly again.

            It had faded considerably. It looked like a smudge, like something that could be easily taken off.

            So Levi wet his thumb with his tongue and wiped.

            It didn’t leave, of course, but that was the confirmation that Levi needed.

            Eren began to look worried, and he searched Levi’s eyes for a reply.

            “Levi, what’s wrong?” he repeated.

            Levi knew what was wrong.

            The Gods had decided to change the game on them.

            The mark had been the only way for Levi to feel Eren’s existence and to come when he called.

            Levi couldn’t suppress the dread that rose up his chest at the faint mark on Eren’s neck.

            It had faded a lot, especially from the last time he had seen it.

            They had said that the only point of Eren’s existence was to kill him.

            If that purpose was not fulfilled, they had said that his existence was useless.

            Levi knew what they were doing.

            They were taking away the only way for him to feel Eren’s existence.

            “Nothing is wrong,” Levi whispered, attempting to seem unaffected.

            He kissed Eren again.

            But those thoughts never left.

            They didn’t leave, and that’s why, when Armin approached him a few days later, he knew a day like that would come.

            “Eren has been having trouble seeing me,” Armin revealed, sitting in front of him. Levi had been reading one of his favorite novels, but he put it down at Armin’s appearance.

            “I also…” Armin choked up, as if he was having trouble putting the words out there. “He… I’ve lost the ability to touch him.”

            That was it.

            That was what the Gods were doing.

            They were taking away all of Eren’s protections.

            They were making sure that he had nothing.

            The final straw came a few days later in the form of Armin. Armin came into Levi’s home, and, to prove a point, he told Levi to call Eren down. And Levi did.

            And when Eren came downstairs, not once, did he glance at the blonde-haired boy next to him.

            Eren had completely lost the ability to see Armin. He had lost his ability to see ghosts.

            The mark in Eren’s neck was still there, but just barely.

            So Levi kept Eren close.

            He didn’t explain because Eren probably knew.

            Levi did tell him about Armin, however. Eren had shut himself in his room to cry for a few days, and, even if he couldn’t see him, Armin stayed by his side.

            On one of those few days, because he was wondering how this all fit into the equation… into this game of the Gods… he sat down with Erwin and asked him a few questions.

            It started with random ones. Questions that he knew confused Erwin.

            But he had to know if he was a threat.

            Levi knew lies.

            But Erwin didn’t tell any.

            He was straightforward.

            Reapers didn’t remember their past.

            Even if he squinted at Erwin and attempted to read him deeper—he couldn’t see into his past. But that wasn’t particularly surprising. Reapers were blank slates. They had no past or present or future that was clearly visible. They had a barrier that prohibited humans from seeing them.

            And that was why Levi couldn’t see it.

            Not on Erwin or on anyone that was a reaper.

            So Levi realized that his past wasn’t important. Not to the gods, anyway.

            They didn’t give a damn.

            Erwin had been put back into his life to mock him and his past.

            They were mocking his ability to move on.

            “You can’t move away,” they seemed to say. “But look at him. The man that ruined your life. He can’t even remember you.”

            The Erwin of right now wasn’t the prince from back then.

            Levi wondered if at one point those blue eyes had been as cold and calculating as the prince’s had been. Levi hadn’t seen the prince become the man that he had been known for becoming, but was Erwin just a shell of that young boy?

            So, instead of giving the gods the pleasure of seeing him hurt, Levi decided to move on from it.

            He didn’t tell Erwin what he knew.

            What is the past to someone that doesn’t even remember it?

            However, even though he knew that those thoughts were something that he shouldn’t worry about, he couldn’t help but to wonder about what could have been. If the prince had been someone else, would Levi have been as set to forgive?

            But Levi was set to forgive. He was set to forgive because Eren was fighting his own battles, and Levi had decided a long time ago that those battles were also his. While Eren lost his friends, unable to see them again, Levi had become his middle ground.

            Come to me if you need it.

            He would be his support, and he would do what he could to keep him safe.

            That’s why, when he started noticing the other ghosts, Levi knew that something needed to be done.

            Erwin had mentioned a leak of limbo.

            And Levi had ignored too many warnings too many times.

            He wouldn’t forget this one.

            Because he knew that one particular ghost wanted Eren dead.

            He just had to wait for when the moment of attack would come.

            And, when that moment came, Levi knew what he had to do.

 

X

 

            “There’s another one right there,” Erwin noted, blue eyes glinting to point out another ghost roaming around the outside lot. It looked skittish, and it kept looking back at the house.

            “It looks like they’re assessing the area,” Levi gritted, his eyes locking on the figure. It made him uneasy, and he didn’t want to be the one prevent Eren from going out, but….he was finding it increasingly difficult to want to let him go very far.

            He didn’t know what these ghosts were planning, but he was pretty sure who their leader was.

            But what irked Levi the most was their guts.

            They had to know that Levi was a goblin, right?

            He had the power to obliterate them yet here they were.

            “They might find it simpler to attack if Eren’s at work,” Erwin pointed out, and Levi had to agree. He’d told Mikasa of the likely dangers of having Eren working there during those days. She responded by giving Eren shorter shifts, and she had been there whenever he was working, to keep him company.

            Eren though…

            “Levi,” he had said, “I don’t want to live in fear all of the time, okay? It could happen today—tomorrow—or twenty years from now. I’ll defend myself if anything too bad happens, okay?”

            But how could you defend yourself from something you couldn’t see?

            “Do you remember the promise that you made me, Erwin?” Levi asked, and Erwin looked down at him.

            His face was somber, but it quickly became emotionless.

            Yes, he remembered.

            And that’s all that Levi needed to know.

            He called in that promise mere hours later.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Eren**

 

            Eren woke up with a headache again.

            He groaned, turned off his alarm, and got out of bed.

            He ate, took his pills…grabbed his bag from his apartment dining room and took the bus to work.

            Eren had dreamt about that man again.

            The man whose face he could never remember.

            He went to work…buried his nose in paperwork.

            Ate again.

            Worked again.

            Took his pills.

            “Sorry, I’m not free this weekend,” Eren faked.

            Took more of those pills when he got home.

            Eren kept a notebook next to the drawer where he slept.

            He opened it.

            The tissue was still there.

            “Remember him”, it said. “Don’t forget Levi.”

            Eren brushed his hand over the ink.

            His handwriting, but this was something that he couldn’t remember writing.

            He closed the notebook, read a book… Closed it.

            Took his sleeping pills.

            “It’s not healthy,” they said. “You’re taking too many,” they said.

            But how could he sleep without them?

            He was always thinking.

            He thought too much.

            Everything bothered him.

            There was something missing, but he always drew blanks.

            So it was another day.

            Another morning.

            Another routine.

            “You have a purpose,” the man in his dreams said.

            And for those moments that he could see him, Eren believed him.

 

X

 

            Another routine.

            Another day.

            A bump.

            “Careful. Watch your step.”

            He looked into blue eyes. A man with a strong build, blonde.

            The man tipped his hat.

            “Apologies.”

            The man looks away.

            Eren stops. Tries to remember.

            Nothing, he thinks.

            He keeps walking.

           

X

 

            He’s mad at the man in his dreams.

            But he can’t remember why.

           

X

 

            There is a black coat in his room.

            Eren doesn’t remember buying it.

            It looks expensive, so he keeps it in his closet.

            There used to be a smell to it.

            Chamomile.

            Cherry blossoms.

            The smell isn’t there anymore.

 

X

 

            Sometimes, Eren feels like ghosts haunt his room.

            A friendly ghost.

            One that plays with his radio and turns it on to annoy him.

            Fiddles with his TV.

            Eren remembers being able to see them.

            He can’t see them anymore.

            One night before bed, there is a note on his drawer.

            “Get your life together,” it reads. “Levi wouldn’t like to see you like this.”

            That night, Eren cries.

 

X

 

            He can’t remember her, but there is a woman who comes to talk to him sometimes.

            Her name is Mikasa.

            She’s beautiful.

            “I know you,” she says, and Eren believes her. He asks her from where.

            She purses her lips. Thinks. Then smiles.

            Hands him her card.

            “If you would like to talk to me sometime, reach me, okay?” she asks.

            Eren nods.

            He calls her that weekend.

            They laugh together, and Eren feels like he’s accidentally found a long-lost friend.

            He’s curious.

            A spark.

            “You know something about me, don’t you?” he asks.

            “Yes,” she says. “But do you really want to know?”

            I want to know.

            “I want to know,” Eren thinks out loud.

            She gives him a candle instead.

            “You can remember,” she smiles. “Just don’t repress them, okay?”

           

 

X

 

            Eren is twenty three.

            He goes back home with a candle in between his fingertips.

            He buys a cake.

            It’s pretty and white, and it’s raining outside.

            The rain is calm, reminiscent.

            The rain has always made him feel calm, safe, so he decides to light up the candle underneath the balcony roof.

            When he lights it up the first time, the flame flickers out. He tries again. 

            The tip of the candle catches on fire.

            And it’s almost funny. The way in which the wind catches, falls, smothers it.

            So he tries again.

            And this time, it’s alright.

            He doesn’t know why he’s doing this, so Eren chuckles.

            He hasn’t chuckled in a while.

            But he’s doing this because it doesn’t feel like the first time.

            He waits a while, and then he blows the flame out.

           

X

 

            Eren can see colors.

            He can see faces. His father. The man he bumped into a few days ago.

            And he can see the face of the man in his dreams.

            Levi.

            There is chaos. Eren is laying on the ground, and he can feel the crushing suffocation in his chest all over again. He’s faint, and he’s bleeding. He can feel his consciousness fading. He hadn’t been able to see his father when he attacked him, but now he can.

            Levi is taking out the sword in his chest. It’s lighting up like fire, and he’s wielding it against several of the ghosts. They are screaming as they break into dots of black light.

            Levi is attempting to destroy his father, but he can’t. The sword crosses right through him like smoke.

            But then Erwin is there as a distraction.

            And the sword is in Levi’s chest again.

            And he’s looking at Eren.

            “I’m sorry,” Levi says, and Eren is weak. He’s crying, and shouting as Levi grabs his hands and makes him hold the sword. And he is pulling it out again, except this time the flames are blue.

            And when he attacks Grisha again, Grisha screams as he breaks into his body, ebbing into black.

            Eren is crying as Levi stumbles away, holding onto his gaping stomach. The sword clatters.

            “Erwin,” Levi is gasping. “Erwin, do it now.”

            Eren is attempting to crawl to him when he hears those words.

            He’s choking, and Erwin is approaching him. His eyes are a chilly blue, but they are teary.

            “I’m really sorry,” Erwin says.

            Levi isn’t looking at him, but Eren is staring at the hunched figure.

            He’s shaking, and his edges are blue. They are blue flame. And he is slowly fading away, too. Like the wind. Like the rain. Like a force of nature, he is becoming sprinkles of light. And then he is gone.

            Eren’s vision is going black as he feels Erwin’s palm over his eyes.

            It feels like hours, but it might have been minutes.

            There is a flaw.

            Erwin allowed a flaw.

            Eren is delirious, but his fevered hands are scribbling onto tissue. He crumbles that tissue in his hand.

            When he wakes up, he can’t remember anything, but that tissue is still in his hand.

 

X

 

            Eren is screaming. He can feel, although he’s feeling a little too much.

            He’s crying.

            And then he’s angry again.

            He’s throwing things around in his room, and he spots that coat.

            It was the coat he was wearing when Levi died.

            And, after his tantrums….after his tears, he has exhausted himself to the point of sitting weakly on his bed. His head is pounding, but he hasn’t felt like this in a long time.

            He had been missing something.

            He had always thought that something was missing.

            Now he knows what that was.

            He’s still angry.

            He’s still miserable.

            But this is the most clear-minded that Eren has felt in years.

            He doesn’t regret it.

            He doesn’t regret it because he had the choice to remember.

            So he decides to live.

            Because Levi gave him the chance.

            He won’t be the same, but he’d find him again.

            He would find Levi again.

            And Eren would choose to remember.

            The thing is…Eren was selfish that way.

            He didn’t want to waste any other lives not being able to find him. Not being able to touch him or feel him. But he would do it. He would live how Levi had lived.

            _I love you._

            Eren would look for the rest of his days…for the day in which he could approach him and ask….

            “Do you remember me?”

            And Levi would reply…

            “I do.”

 

X

 

            “You look different from what I remember.”

            “Huh…You do, too.”

            “In a good way, or…?”

            “You’re the older one now, so do I get to call you old man this time?”

            “Hey! I’m just five years older than you!”

            “Haha…brat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But does it count as major character death if he comes back though??
> 
> You can find me @istillcantforgetyou in tumblr :)


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